It is rivalry week in the Southeastern Conference and the stakes are pretty high even without any national championship implications. If you throw in the BCS title game story it gets even better.
Obviously Georgia, Alabama and Florida are playing games with an eye on the future, but they can’t really afford to overlook their natural in-state rivalries.
Georgia is in the SEC Championship Game regardless of the outcome of this weekend’s game with Georgia Tech, but a loss to its rival would knock the Bulldogs out of the national championship picture.
Alabama has a clear path to the SEC Championship Game, but the Tide has to beat its in-state rival Auburn for that — or any national championship hope — to happen.
Florida has no hope of playing for the Southeastern Conference championship and realistically has so little a shot at sneaking into the BCS title game that Will Muschamp probably has to struggle to keep a straight face if he even mentions it to his players as they get ready for a tough battle with Florida State.
But with all that aside, there is still plenty of pride at stake around the rest of the league.
Missouri was 20 seconds away from a win over Syracuse before a late touchdown pass left the Tigers still needing one more win to become bowl eligible.
“This is a difficult loss, but we have to wake up and get going,” said Gary Pinkel after the loss to the Orange. “It’s always difficult, but we have to get up and go back and battle. Obviously we’re playing a very good football team that’s on a roll and has had a great year.”
That great team the Tigers are going to have to beat is 9th-ranked Texas A&M, who will be playing on Senior Day in front of the 12th Man crowd in College Station.
Senior linebacker Jonathan Stewart knows what this game means for the seniors, who want to go out with a win.
“It would be great (to get a win), especially for the senior class,” he said. “We’ve had every type of season you could have. We’ve had a very good season, we’ve had an average season and we’ve had a blowout season, so it would mean a lot. We’re really looking forward to next weekend. Especially the senior class. We know it’s our last time being able to do it in front of the 12th Man on Kyle Field. We’re going to be ecstatic and we’re going to prepare hopefully better than we’ve prepared any other week this week.”
The stakes in this one are simple. For Texas A&M, a win would mean 10 wins and a great bowl trip. For Missouri, a win would make the Tigers bowl eligible.
Kentucky and Tennessee will be a game that nobody really cares about unless you are a fan of either team. It will be the battle of two coaches who will be out of work soon. It’s Joker Phillips’ last game atKentuckyand Don Chaney’s only game asTennessee’s interim. Between them, these two teams are dropping the curtain on a season in which the Vols and Wildcats are a combined 6-16.
“I have been around football a long time. I think I understand the role but until you do it you have no idea. I have no idea what a head coach does, I have never done it before,” said Chaney. “I am excited and I hope I don’t mess it up too bad. I hope I represent Coach Dooley very well on Saturday, I really do.
“I think the team is motivated. I think they are shook up a little right now, but I think they will bounce back and they will come around. I hope hoping those 13 seniors will have something to say about that and we are excited about seeing them go play. I think they are shell-shocked a little bit right now, like any team would be. Time will heal, it just takes time.”
LSU travels to Arkansas still holding out faint hope that a series of events could unfold that would give the Tigers a chance to play for the SEC championship. But in the meantime, there is a little matter of rival Arkansas. Speaking of coaches coaching their last game,Arkansas’ John L. Smith will likely be moving on after this season ends. It’s been a nightmare for him from the outset.
LSU will still be playing in a nice bowl game, but championship goals for the Tigers and Les Miles are going to come up short for this year and that makes this season less than satisfying for the Tigers.
Vanderbilt will take its five-game winning streak to Wake Forest to end the season before preparing for a bowl game, its second in the past three years. But the biggest reason to celebrate for the Commodores is the five-game winning streak.
“When we win around here, we enjoy wins. The other option isn’t a whole lot of fun so we try to avoid it with everything we have. I’m adamant to sticking to our process, our plan and making sure we as coaches we don’t talk up one game more than another. We have to keep it as consistent as possible,” said Vanderbilt coach James Franklin.
“This game has a little more significance because it is the last game of the year. We want to make sure that we end this thing on a real positive note.”
Franklin knows that Wake Forest will give Vanderbilt its best shot because the Demon Deacons need this win to reach bowl eligibility.
“That’s something we’ll talk about,” he said. “They need this game to get to the magic number. They’ll be pretty motivated, so that is something I will address with the team.”
That leaves the Iron Bowl, the Egg Bowl and the traditional Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry as the remaining SEC rivalries that we’ll need to look at as the weekend grows closer.