Game Day: Florida

There's a very big game today, but there's a lot between here and there. This really is the start of the most important run of the season. We play all four of our four best remaining teams on the schedule in the next 5 weeks. Florida, then Kentucky, then Auburn, then a week off, then Bama. If we can get through this, the schedule opens up a little bit, giving us teams that appear to be a notch below those guys: La Tech, Ole Miss, and Arkansas.

Anyway, here's the plan, subject to change because we have a house guest today.

Now - 9:00am: Whatever comes up.

9:00am - 11:00am: ESPN GameDay, broadcasting from LSU. While I normally avoid this show like the plague, I will watch it when it's at Baton Rouge.

11:00am - 11:30am: I'll watch the first few minutes of Wisconsin at Illinois on ESPN. I have soft spot for Ron Zook, who I think got jobbed at Florida and doesn't get enough credit for building the senior-heavy team that won the national championship last year.

11:30am - 2:30pm: Vandy at Auburn, Lincoln-Financial. Auburn looks to avoid the let down against Vandy. All the classic elements of a let down are there. They're coming off a big win. They're playing at home at 11:30 in the morning, when the crowd won't be buzzing. They're playing a decent team that you'd be tempted to think is not very good. And finally, they don't really have that great of a team themselves. I don't make predictions about games I expect to be competitive, so I won't here. I'm just saying that the prospects of a let down and upset are better than you often see.

2:30pm - 6:00pm: Georgia at Tennessee, CBS. All games in the East are big because the teams are so even. Here, almost halfway through the season, there are five teams with a legitimate shot at winning the East. These are two of them, each with one conference loss. This game may be an elimination game in the East. The loser will have lost two games to other Eastern Division teams, and so will need the other teams to lose 3 conference games in order to pass them in the standings. Neither team controls its destiny, but the winner needs only a little help to win the division. (Georgia would need South Carolina to lose a game, and Tennessee would need Florida to lose a game).

6:00pm - 7:00pm: Yoga. Meditation. OK, that's not true, but I'll probably try to rest up a bit before the LSU game.

7:00pm - 11:00pm: What do you think? Florida at LSU, CBS. There's really no more to say that hasn't been said about it. We know what we're up against. We know what bullets we have in the gun. It's time to play the game.

The landscape of the SEC will be drawn in much more detail today, but it won't be finished for a while.