Associated Press
The national college football roundup …
BATON ROUGE, La. ó Alligator will be served at tailgating parties across LSU’s campus and the noise in Death Valley will be deafening.
That much can be predicted with near certainty when No. 1 Florida visits the fourth-ranked Tigers tonight in a highly anticipated matchup of unbeaten teams.
As for what may happen inside the lines, there’s a lot more suspense.
It begins with whether Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Tim Tebow will have recovered well enough from his concussion at Kentucky two weeks ago to suit up. Florida coach Urban Meyer has said he doesn’t expect a decision on that until sometime shortly before kickoff.
The intrigue has built throughout the week. Tebow returned to practice Tuesday. He shared first-team snaps all week with John Brantley, who may have to make his first college start in what is arguably the most challenging game on the Gators’ schedule.
Two teams ranked this high haven’t met in Tiger Stadium since 1959, when No. 1 LSU hosted No. 3 Mississippi. Florida (4-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference), the leader in the SEC East, and LSU (5-0, 3-0), one of three undefeated teams in the West, will remain contenders to win their respective divisions regardless of Saturday night’s outcome.
“I think this is a preview of what you might see in the SEC (championship) game,” LSU running back Charles Scott said.
Meyer assured that Brantley will be ready if he gets the call.
“I have a lot of confidence in him, and it’s not false confidence,” Meyer said. “It’s confidence from what you see him do in practice. … Johnny’s not going to go in there by himself. He’s got 10 other guys on offense, some very mature guys, that are going to take care of that guy.”
Brantley, a redshirt sophomore, has pedigree. His father played quarterback for Florida. The younger Brantley was 27-1 as a high school starter, leading Trinity Catholic to a Florida high school state title in 2006.
NO. 3 ALABAMA at NO. 20 MISSISSIPPI
JACKSON, Miss. ó These are the kind of games that Houston Nutt has built his reputation on.
And No. 20 Mississippi could use all of Nutt’s mojo this week with No. 3 Alabama coming to town. This is the first time since 1970 the teams are meeting while both are ranked in the top 20, and all the goals the Rebels set before the season are at stake.
A loss likely knocks them out of the SEC West race, the Top 25 and contention for a BCS bowl.
Nutt is 5-8 overall against top-five teams with wins in two of the last three and three of the last five. Three of the losses have come by four points or less.
NO. 17 AUBURN vs. ARKANSAS
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. ó Gus Malzahn is back for another shot against his former team.
Malzahn, the offensive coordinator for No. 17 Auburn, will return to Fayetteville for the second time in two seasons when the Tigers play at Arkansas on Saturday. Malzahn was the Razorbacks’ offensive coordinator in 2006 before leaving to join the staff at Tulsa.
He and the Golden Hurricane were unbeaten last year before a 30-23 loss at Arkansas.
After moving back to the Southeastern Conference, he is in the same position ó undefeated heading into a game at Arkansas. Auburn (5-0, 2-0 SEC) cracked the Top 25 this week and boasts the nation’s fifth-ranked offense.
NO. 22 vs. FLORIDA STATE
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ó Bobby Bowden is in dire need of a win against No. 22 Georgia Tech on Saturday, maybe as badly as any of the 514 times he has walked the sidelines as a college coach.
Florida State (2-3, 0-2 ACC) is off to its worst start since Bowden’s first year in 1976 and fan disenchantment has grown during a decade of mediocrity.
The 14-year run of top five finishes that produced a pair of national titles and two Heisman Trophy winners are a distant memory.