I've crunched the numbers.

I've studied the film.

I've looked at this thing from every possible angle and come to a shocking conclusion.

Alabama will not beat Auburn in the 2009 Iron Bowl ...

By as many points as it did in the 2008 Iron Bowl.

This Auburn team has more heart than last year's team.

This Auburn team has more fight.

This Auburn team has a semblance of an offense.

You know what that means.

This time, Auburn will score.

It'll be closer than some experts might think.

It'll be closer than last year.

But it won't be close.

It'll be Alabama 36, Auburn 10.

If it turns out that way, remember, you heard it here first.

If it turns out to be the biggest upset in Iron Bowl history -- which an Auburn victory would be -- forget you ever met me.

 

 

 

It's a quiet Saturday in Jordan-Hare, but things will heat up Friday (Gold Mine photo)Auburn is enjoying its first Saturday off of the season today after 11 straight games, but the Tigers will be back at work Sunday for Friday's game against Alabama.

The Tigers will stage serious workouts through Wednesday, and even have a walk-through Thanksgiving morning before breaking for a traditional holiday meal with teammates and family.

Auburn coach Gene Chizik says he's mapped out the practices to build to the Iron Bowl because "we don't need to be ready to play the game today or tomorrow or Monday or Tuesday."

Friday is the day in Jordan-Hare Stadium.

"You hate to go through a schedule of 12 games and say this win means so much more than this one, but we all do know the reality of this rivalry. It's big,'' Chizik said. "There's a fine line with them being focused and very tuned in with how to win the game.

"We've just got to prepare or focus and take them on this journey and prepare like we always have. But in the back of their minds, they need to know how big this game is."

Hello from. .... my house, which is where SEC Chatter is spending its only open date of the season.

And as such, we're a little late getting these posted before the games actually start. But we made these picks Friday and you can read them as part of our SEC preview each Saturday in The Huntsville Times.

Not the most spectacular of days for games but we've got Tennessee beating Vandy tonight to get the Vols bowl eligible -- and an SEC record 10 teams headed for bowls.

We've also go the Digiorno (is that how you spell it?) pizza ready to watch LSU-Ole Miss at 2:30, which we're hoping is a fun one to watch.

Otherwise, here are the meat-n-taters:

Alabama 56, Chattanooga 10

Arkansas 34, Mississippi State 17

Florida 63, Florida International 7

Ole Miss 24, LSU 21

Tennessee 38, Vanderbilt 14

Georgia 26, Kentucky 14

Neil Callaway and his UAB Blazers have their fate in their hands. (The Birmingham News / Tamika Moore)At some point, UAB football has to quit with all the "what ifs."

As in, what if the university system board of trustees cared enough to really fund UAB football? What if the school had hired Jimbo Fisher three years ago? What if the Blazers had won those last games to become bowl eligible in 2002?

Or 2003?

Or 2005?

It seems that since its inception, UAB football has been built on a foundation of "what ifs." Control over its destiny has always seemed to reside in someone else's hands.

But not today.

For the first time in maybe forever -- certainly since UAB has been part of Conference USA -- the Blazers enter the last two weekends of a football season with everything to play for, and by "everything" we're not talking about just making some bottom-rung Conference USA tie-in bowl game.

We're talking an honest to goodness, run-a-pennant-up-the-flag-pole football divisional championship.

OK, so it would be the championship of a division full of 6-4 and 5-5 teams, where the cumulative record of all six members of the East Division of C-USA is 30-30; where the total points scored and total points given up by those teams comes out to 1,536 to 1,533. That's a field goal away from .500, which pretty much sums up the state of the entire division.

But what some football fans might call "mediocrity" the Blazers can call "opportunity."

If UAB (5-5 overall, 4-2 in C-USA play) can beat East Carolina (6-4, 5-1) today and Central Florida (6-4, 4-2) next week at home, the Blazers are in the C-USA Championship Game against either current West Division leader SMU (6-4, 5-1) or Houston (8-2, 4-2).

Can't be done, you say? Hey, we're talking about an East Carolina team which lost to SMU, which lost to Houston, which lost to Central Florida, which lost to Southern Miss, which lost to - here it comes - UAB!

Normally such circular reasoning would have absolutely no validity in the real world. But remember, we're talking Conference USA here. Look at those statistics again. This league has been the poster child for "on any given Saturday" -- or Thursday or Sunday or whatever night of the week C-USA has agreed to play on in order to get television exposure.

Go ahead and laugh at the apparent ineptitude of C-USA. But parity leads to unpredictability, and unpredictability can be fun. Well, it's fun at least for the downtrodden teams that suddenly, inexplicably find themselves in a hunt for a title at a point in the season when normally the equipment guy is starting to horde clean towels and T-shirts for the post-season cleanup.

The way this season ends is entirely within UAB's control -- no qualifiers, no wiggle-room, no looking back and wondering "what if."

Win today, and set up the biggest game in school history in a rare end-of-the-season home game next week with a chance to chart a course into the great unknown of real championship play.

Lose today, and this team will be remembered for being SOBs.

Same ol' Blazers.

Join the conversation by commenting below or e-mail Ray at rmelick@bhamnews.com.

  ROGELIO SOLIS/Associated PressFlorida coach Urban Meyer completed his fifth SEC season last week with a victory over South Carolina that gave him the highest winning percentage in conference games in league history and also lifted him into the top spot for winning percentage among active coaches.0 Active coaches with at least five years of experience who have a better winning percentage than Florida's Urban Meyer. Meyer passed Southern Cal's Pete Carroll for the top spot last week, when the Gators beat South Carolina while the Trojans lost to Stanford. Meyer improved to an .845 winning percentage with a record of 93-17 in nine seasons at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida. Carroll dropped to .841 with a 95-18 mark in his nine seasons with Southern Cal.

0 Teams in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision that have played a tougher schedule than Mississippi State this season. The FBS opponents that the Bulldogs have played so far this season have a combined record of 56-22. Arkansas, Mississippi State's opponent on Saturday, ranks fourth on the NCAA's toughest-schedule so far list. The other SEC schools and their ranks are Georgia, third; Alabama, sixth; Florida, 18th; South Carolina, 21st; Auburn, 25th; Vanderbilt, 44th; LSU, 47th; Tennessee, 49th; Ole Miss, 52nd; and Kentucky, 64th.

0 Turnovers for Georgia in its 31-24 victory over Auburn last week, the first game this season in which the Bulldogs didn't lose a fumble or interception. 

1 Touchback on 44 punts this season by Arkansas' Dylan Breeding.

1 SEC Team without a touchback on kickoffs this season. Mississippi State is the only team in the conference that has had every kickoff that it kept inbounds returned. 

1 Of its opponents' fumbles recovered by Georgia this season, the fewest in the nation. The Bulldogs' opponent on Saturday, Kentucky, has recovered three, tied for next-to-last.

1 Possession apiece inside the red zone on which Arkansas and Georgia have failed to score. Arkansas has scored on 38 of its 39 possessions inside the opponents' 20. Georgia has had 23 red-zone possessions.

1 TD pass needed by Auburn QB Chris Todd to tie the school's single-season record of 20 set by Pat Sullivan in his Heisman Trophy season of 1971 and tied by Jason Campbell during the Tigers' undefeated 2004 season.

2 SEC teams that have scored first in all of their victories while their opponents have scored first in all of their losses -- Tennessee and Vanderbilt, which meet on Saturday in Knoxville.

2 Players in SEC history with more kickoff-return yards in a
season than Mississippi State's Leon Berry has in 2009, yet he isn't the league leader. Berry's 899 kickoff-return yards would be 6 short of the SEC single-season record set by Arkansas' Dennis Johnson last year, but Vanderbilt's Warren Norman already has broken that mark with 989 yards in 2009. With 894 kickoff-return yards this season, Johnson ranks fourth in SEC history but just third in the league this year.

3 SEC teams that have played their 500th league game this season. Vanderbilt did so against South Carolina on Oct. 24, LSU did so against Alabama on Nov. 7 and Mississippi State did so against Alabama last week. Alabama has played 538 SEC games and Auburn 514. Ready to join the 500 Club next season are Georgia, with 497 conference games; Tennessee, 494; Kentucky, 493; and Ole Miss, 491. Florida has played 479 SEC games. Arkansas and South Carolina did not join the SEC until 1992.

3 Interceptions in the first half last week for Arkansas in its victory over Troy. Levi Brown, the Trojans' quarterback, entered the contest with a streak of 258 passes without an interception, 11 short of the NCAA single-season record set by Trent Dilfer in 1993 at Fresno State. Arkansas safety Matt Harris intercepted Brown's ninth pass of the game.

3 Passes thrown by Kentucky in 42 offensive snaps in the second half against Vanderbilt last week. The Wildcats trailed 13-10 at halftime, but ground out a 24-13 victory.

4 Seasons in SEC history with two 250-yard rushing performances. Ole Miss RB Dexter McCluster ran for 282 yards against Tennessee last week. Mississippi State RB Anthony Dixon rushed for 252 yards against Kentucky on Oct. 31. This season is the first in which both outbursts came in conference contests. In 1978, Vanderbilt's Frank Mordica ran for 321 yards against Air Force and Auburn's Joe Cribbs ran for 250 yards against Georgia. In 1989, Florida's Emmitt Smith ran for 316 yards against New Mexico and Tennessee's Chuck Webb ran for 294 yards against Ole Miss. In 1995, Kentucky's Moe Williams ran for 299 yards against South Carolina and 272 yards against Cincinnati.

4 Consecutive victories in Oxford for LSU, which visits again on Saturday to play Ole Miss. The Rebels haven't won at home against the Tigers since taking a 37-31 overtime victory on Halloween in 1998.

5 Straight home losses for Mississippi State -- all against ranked teams after the Bulldogs lost in Starkville to Alabama last week.

6 SEC teams that have given up more points in conference competition than the 160 scored against Vanderbilt this season. Yet while Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, Auburn, Arkansas and Mississippi State   all have won at least two conference games, the Commodores are winless in SEC play heading into their final league game of the season on Saturday at Tennessee -- maybe because Vanderbilt has scored 55 points in its seven SEC games.

7 Games this season in which Ole Miss has led at halftime -- all victories. The Rebels have trailed at halftime in all of their losses.

8 Yards needed by Tennessee safety Eric Berry to become the NCAA career leader in interception-return yards, replacing Florida State's Terrell Buckley, who had 501.

8 Field goals made in eight attempts from at least 40 yards by Georgia's Blair Walsh, the only place-kicker in the SEC who has made all his attempts from that distance.

9 Teams in the nation playing their entire 2009 schedules without an open date. Vanderbilt wraps up its season at Tennessee on Saturday, its 12th consecutive week with a game.

9 Kickoff-return yards needed by Alabama CB Javier Arenas to become the eighth player in SEC history with 2,000. The others are Brandon James, Derek Pegues, Derek Abney, Mark Johnson, Chris Culliver, Domanick Davis and Tony Jackson. Like Arenas, James and Culliver are playing this season.

11 Victories in 18 games for the SEC West against the SEC East
this season to take the cross-conference series. Since the SEC divided into divisions for the 1992 season, the West leads the East 165-156-3. Alabama and Florida won all three of their opposite-division games, and Tennessee and Vanderbilt lost all three of their games this season.

12 Teams that have finished the season with an 8-0 SEC record, with Florida joining the list after beating South Carolina last week. Since the standardization of the eight-game league schedule with the SEC's split into divisions starting with the 1992 season, nine teams have posted 8-0 conference records. The others are Alabama in 1992, Auburn in 1993, Alabama in 1994, Florida in 1995, Florida in 1996, Tennessee in 1998, Auburn in 2004 and Alabama in 2008. Alabama would join the list if it beats Auburn on Nov. 27. The SEC has never had two division winners with 8-0 records in the same season. From the league's first season in 1933 through the 1991 season, 44 teams posted unbeaten and untied conference records -- including three in 1939. However, only three of those 44 played eight SEC games -- Tulane in 1934, Alabama in 1964 and Alabama in 1973.

12 Consecutive games won by Florida against SEC East rivals. The most recent SEC East team to beat the Gators was Georgia on Oct. 27, 2007.

12 Straight seasons in which Georgia has won at least eight games, tied with Texas for the longest streak in the nation. The Longhorns are in their 12th straight season. For Georgia to retake the lead and extend its streak to 13 consecutive seasons, it needs to win two more games.

15 Seasons since the SEC championship game featured a rematch, which will happen again this year now that Alabama and Florida have clinched division championships. The Gators beat the Crimson Tide 31-20 in last season's title game. Florida and Alabama opposed each other in the first three SEC title games in 1992, '93 and '94.

16 Seasons without an SEC victory for Vanderbilt, the most in league history. The Commodores will suffer their 17th season without a league victory if they don't beat Tennessee on Saturday. Of the 10 original members of the SEC in 1933 that are still in the conference today, only Georgia and Tennessee have never had a season without winning at least one league game. The number of seasons without a win or a tie for the others are one for Alabama and LSU, three for Florida, five for Auburn and Ole Miss, nine for Mississippi State and 12 for Kentucky. Arkansas, which joined the SEC in 1992, has never had a winless SEC season. South Carolina, which joined at the same time, has two.

17 All-purpose yards needed by Vanderbilt RB Warren Norman to break the SEC freshman record of 1,805 set by Herschel Walker at Georgia in 1980. Norman leads the SEC in all-purpose yards.

20 Consecutive games won the Florida, the nation's longest winning streak and the longest in school history. All but one of the victories has had a margin of victory of at least 10 points. The winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest in SEC history. Auburn won 20 consecutive games in 1993 and 1994. The longest winning streak in SEC history is 28 games, reached by Alabama from 1978 through 1980 and reached again by the Crimson Tide from 1991 through 1993. The third-longest SEC winning streak is 23 games, achieved by Tennessee from 1937 through 1939.

21 Consecutive games won by Alabama in which the Crimson Tide has scored first. Alabama hasn't lost a game in which it scored first since Louisiana-Monroe rallied to a 21-14 upset victory on Nov. 17, 2007. Since that loss, Alabama has played only five games in which its opponent got on the scoreboard first, and the Tide has a 2-3 record in those games.

23 Consecutive non-conference games won by LSU, the longest streak in the nation, after the Tigers beat Louisiana Tech last week. LSU's most recent loss to a non-SEC foe was a 30-25 setback against Iowa in the Capitol One Bowl after the 2004 season. LSU has won 26 consecutive regular-season non-conference games, dating to a 26-8 loss to Virginia Tech to kick off the 2002 season. LSU hasn't lost a non-conference game at home since suffering a 13-10 upset by UAB on Sept. 23, 2000, a streak of 28 games.

24 Field goals made by Alabama PK Leigh Tiffin -- as many field goals as any other SEC kicker has attempted this season. Tiffin is 24-for-27. Florida's Caleb Sturgis has attempted 24 field goals, making 18.

24 Consecutive games won by Florida in which the Gators scored first. Florida hasn't lost a game in which it scored first since LSU rallied for a 28-24 victory on Oct. 6, 2007. Since that loss, Florida has played seven games in which its opponent has scored first, and the Gators have a 4-3 record in those games. Under coach Urban Meyer, Florida has a 42-1 record when it scores first.

25 Consecutive games won by LSU against Louisiana schools after the Tigers beat Louisiana Tech last week. LSU hasn't lost to an in-state opponent since Tulane took a 31-28 victory in 1982. LSU has a 129-25-8 record against in-state opponents.

25 More penalties against Auburn than against its opponents this season, the biggest deficit in the SEC. The next biggest difference in the SEC belongs to Vanderbilt, which has been penalized 12 more times than its opponents. Auburn has been penalized 77 times, while its opponents have been penalized 52 times. At the opposite end of the SEC's penalty differential is Ole Miss, which has been penalized 17 fewer times than its opponents.

28 Years since Mississippi State has won four straight games outside of Starkville, something the Bulldogs could do again by beating Arkansas in Little Rock on Saturday. Mississippi State has won its past three road games at Kentucky, Middle Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Mississippi State hasn't won four straight games away from Starkville since it beat Auburn, Alabama, LSU and Ole Miss in consecutive contests in Jackson, Miss., in 1980.

30 Games since Alabama allowed an opposing ballcarrier to rush for at least 100 yards, the longest streak in the nation by nine games. Ohio State has a streak of 21 games. Ole Miss' BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for 131 yards against the Crimson Tide in 2007, and no back has cracked 100 since against Alabama, one of six teams in the nation that has not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season, and the only team that has not done so in the past two seasons.

30 Years since Tennessee went two straight seasons without a bowl appearance. The Volunteers need a victory against Vanderbilt on Saturday or Kentucky next week to qualify for the postseason this year after not going bowling in 2008.  Tennessee's last two-year period without a bowl invitation was 1977-78.

31 Years since Kentucky won a game in Athens, where the Wildcats play Georgia on Saturday. That victory, witnessed by Britain's Prince Charles, was part of Kentucky's most recent three-game road winning streak in the SEC. The Wildcats enter Saturday's game having beaten Auburn and Vanderbilt in their past two SEC road games. The last time Kentucky won three SEC road games in a row was in 1978, when it beat Ole Miss for its sixth straight. In a streak that started in 1976, Kentucky beat Tennessee, LSU, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Florida and Ole Miss on the road before losing at Tennessee.

31 Yards on a TD reception by Auburn WR Terrell Zachery against Georgia last week, the shortest of his five TD catches this season.

32 Victories in 40 SEC games for Florida coach Urban Meyer, the best record in conference history for a coach who has completed five seasons in the league. The Gators wrapped up their 2009 conference schedule by beating South Carolina last week, boosting their coach's winning percentage in conference games to .800. That allowed Meyer to replace former Tennessee coach Robert Neyland in the SEC's career top spot for coaches with at least five years in the league. Neyland had a winning percentage of .787, going 62-15-5 in conference games from 1933-34, 1936-40 and 1946-52. This isn't the first time that Neyland has been knocked out of the No. 1 position. Steve Spurrier went 87-14 in conference games as Florida's coach from 1990 through 2001, a winning percentage of .861. But in his return to the SEC, Spurrier has an 18-22 record at South Carolina, dropping his winning percentage to .745 and returning Neyland to first until Meyer's five-year run.

38 Consecutive games in which LSU WR Brandon LaFell has caught a pass, the fifth-longest streak in the nation. In the past 37 of those games, LaFell has caught at least two passes.

40 More kickoff-return yards for Florida's Brandon James than any other player in SEC history. Last week, James passed former Mississippi State CB Derek Pegues for the league record. James has 2,538 kickoff-return yards. Pegues had 2,498 for the Bulldogs from 2005 through 2008.

43 More penalties for Georgia, the SEC's most-penalized team, than for Kentucky, the SEC's least-penalized team. The teams meet on Saturday. Georgia has been penalized 89 times and Kentucky has been penalized 46.

44 Rushing yards needed by RB Montario Hardesty to record Tennessee's 16th 1,000-yard season. He would become the 15th Volunteer with a 1,000-yard season. Johnnie Jones in 1983 and 1984 is the only Tennessee player with two.

45 Victories over the past four seasons for Florida, tied for the SEC record for most wins in a four-season span. Alabama from 1991 through 1994, Florida from 1993 through 1996 and Tennessee from 1995 through 1998 also won 45 games.
The Gators, who have four games remaining starting with Saturday's meeting with Florida International, also are one victory short of the SEC mark for wins over two seasons -- 24, reached by Alabama in 1992, Tennessee in 1998 and Georgia in 2003 -- and already own the mark for most wins in three seasons with 35, set last year. The record for most victories in a five-season stretch is 56, achieved by LSU from 2003 through 2007.

50 All-purpose yards needed by Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon to replace Walter Packer as the Bulldogs' career leader. Packer, who played for Mississippi State from 1973 through 1976, had 4,169 all-purpose yards -- 2,820 rushing, 171 receiving, 1,166 on kickoff returns and 12 on punt returns. All of Dixon's yardage has come from scrimmage -- 3,685 rushing and 435 receiving.

50 Years since Chattanooga played in Tuscaloosa, where the Mocs will take on Alabama on Saturday. The Crimson Tide and Chattanooga have played in Birmingham since the Capstone meeting. The Mocs are 0-10 against Alabama.

51 Games played by FB John Conner, the most in Kentucky history.

53 TDs scored by both Florida QB Tim Tebow and former LSU RB Kevin Faulk to share the SEC record for most in a career. Faulk played for the Tigers from 1995 through 1998. With 318 points, Tebow and Faulk are tied for 10th in SEC history behind nine place-kickers.

53 Seasons since the last time Kentucky won at least six games in four consecutive seasons, something that the Wildcats have accomplished again this year.

65 More rushing yards for Ole Miss' Dexter McCluster against Tennessee last week than the Volunteers had ever surrendered to one player on the ground. McCluster ran for 282 yards. Previously the most yards Tennessee has ever yielded to a single back were 217, reached by Alabama's Bobby Humphrey in 1986 and matched by Colorado's Mike Pritchard in 1990.

94 More points scored after turnovers by Arkansas than the Razorbacks' opponents have scored against them. Arkansas has 104 points after opponents' turnovers. Its opponents have scored 10 points after Arkansas turnovers.

94 More points scored by Tennessee than by its opponents this season, even though the Volunteers are 5-5.

105 Years between leads over LSU for Louisiana Tech, which scored on the final play of the first half against the Tigers last week to take a 13-10 lead. It was the first time the Bulldogs had been ahead of LSU since taking a 6-0 victory in 1904.

106 Punt-return yards needed by Alabama CB Javier Arenas to break Lee Nalley's SEC career record of 1,695 yards set at Vanderbilt from 1947-49. Arenas needs 172 yards to break Wes Welker's NCAA career punt-return record of 1,767 yards set at Texas Tech from 2000-03.

116 Passing yards needed by Arkansas to break the school single-season record, which was set last year, even though the Razorbacks have thrown 113 fewer passes this season than in 2008.

119 Teams in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision with better average times of possession than Vanderbilt's 25:52, making the Commodores last in the nation in ball control.

155 Yards of total offense that Florida QB Tim Tebow needs
to average in the Gators' four remaining games to replace former Florida QB Chris Leak as the SEC's all-time leader.

157 Passes completed by both Ole Miss and its opponents this season. The Rebels have thrown 18 fewer passes than their opponents, but have gained 342 more yards through the air.

MICHAEL MILLER/Associated PressOle Miss' Dexter McCluster ran for a school-record 282 yards against Tennessee last week.282 Rushing yards for Ole Miss' Dexter McCluster against Tennessee last week, the 11th-best single-game total by an SEC player -- 1 yard short of making the top 10. McCluster broke the school record of 242 yards set by Duo Innocent in 1995. With 324 all-purpose yards -- the eighth-best in SEC history -- McCluster also broke Deuce McAllister's record of 317 set in 1999.

297 Points scored against Auburn this season, the most the Tigers have ever given up in a single campaign. The previous high was 283 in 1995. The Auburn record for most points yielded per game is 26.2 by the 1948 team, which was 1-8-1. The current squad is giving up an average of 27 points per game.

308 Rushing yards for Kentucky last week against Vanderbilt, the most for the Wildcats against an SEC opponent in 14 years.

354 Points scored by Alabama PK Leigh Tiffin to rank fifth in SEC history. Former Georgia PK Billy Bennett holds the conference record with 409 career points from 2000-03. Jeff Hall is second with 371 points for Tennessee from 1995-98, Colt David is third with 369 points for LSU from 2005-08, and Jeff Chandler is fourth with 368 points for Florida from 1997-2000.

437 More rushing yards for Ole Miss RB/WR Dexter McCluster in his past three games than in the first six games this season. Against Tennessee, Auburn and Arkansas, McCluster   rushed 69 times for 591 yards and five TDs after carrying 38 times for 164 yards and 1 TD in the Rebels' first six games. McCluster had 15 receptions for 196 yards and one TD in his past three games after catching 16 passes for 196 yards and one TD in the first six.

2,882 Passing yards this season for Arkansas' Ryan Mallett, the most ever for a Razorback. Mallett passed Clint Stoerner's school mark  last week against Troy.

According to my laptop clock, it's 4:48 p.m. One week from now, it will be about 3 hours, 18 minutes since the Iron Bowl kicked off at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Just a simple question for those of you with a crystal ball:

This time next week, what are you going to be talking about?

 

Mark Blaudschun had some strong things to say about the SEC's Rivalry Week matchups in today's Boston Globe:

Boston Globe columnist Mark Blaudschun: it's Rivalries Weak not Rivalries Week.Let's move down to the Southeastern Conference, where Florida and Alabama are locked in as division champions and will meet in Atlanta next month. Still, it's Rivalry Week, and it is the SEC, and we have . . .

Florida International at Florida.

Chattanooga at Alabama.

Oops. What is this about? It's one thing for Florida to go against Florida State in a traditional nonconference rivalry, but FIU?

Alabama still must deal with Auburn next week, but scheduling Cupcake U 1 and Cupcake U 2 in November is not the way to do things. Keep those games in September, and if the SEC office needs to make sure that its heavyweights don't do any heavy lifting, schedule the bottom-feeders of the conference for the Gators and Tide in November.

The SEC people will tell you the league is so tough that nothing is guaranteed, which is why some teams need a break. Then again, maybe it was a television issue, since TV can make anything happen (if you doubt that, consider that Monmouth and St. Peters started their basketball game Tuesday at 6 a.m. as part of ESPN's 24-hour marathon).

Do you think wins by the Gators and Tide will earn them any style points this week? Do you think that Florida quarterback Tim Tebow and Alabama running back Mark Ingram will win more Heisman votes with big efforts against that level of competition?

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The Iron Bowl is one week from today, that's 1:30 p.m. next Friday from Jordan-Hare Stadium, and we have Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof, via video, talking about his side of the ball...practice, Eltoro Freeman, Walter McFadden, run defense and even being on both sides of the Auburn-Alabama rivalry.

He was an Alabama graduate assistant coach in 1987-88.

Click it and watch it. 

 We also have a poll for your consideration... 

 We saw Alabama was an 8-point favorite over Auburn a couple of weeks ago. It was 9 points Sunday and is now 10 points. The official line doesn't come out until this Sunday, though there are numbers at selected establishments.

Too pricey? Vote in our poll. Remember, we're not asking who's going to win the game. Winners in the poll will receive the satisfaction of being smart, but, as always, no prizes.

UPDATE: The Tigers are already mapping out plans for next season.

The school announced Friday afternoon that the 2010 A-Day spring football game will be April 17 in Jordan-Hare Stadium. For those of you who really like to plan ahead, you are on notice.

Celebrate diversity. Not all football teams wear crimson or orange and blue. (Frank Couch / The Birmingham News)It happened Wednesday at my 4-year-old son's preschool.

According to the school calendar, it was ``Alabama-Auburn Day.''

The calendar advised, ``Wear your team colors.''

My son wore his No. 5 Darren McFadden Arkansas jersey.

Not because he's an Arkansas fan.

He just likes pigs.

It happened Friday at my 6-year-old son's elementary school.

According to the note he brought home earlier in the week, it was ``Team Day.''

Students were encouraged to ``wear your favorite team hat.''

There were logos of only two teams on the note: Alabama and Auburn.

Oh, and they sold tattoos, too -- tiger paws and elephants.

My son wore his No. 15 Tim Tebow Florida jersey.

Hey, he likes alligators.

With the Iron Bowl a week away, this ritual will be played out across the state, and there will be pressure to wear crimson and white or orange and blue, to get an elephant or tiger paw tattoo, to go along to get along.

Please.

Isn't education supposed to open our minds? Yes.

Aren't there other schools in the state, the region, the nation that kids should be allowed to cheer for without being made to feel like an outcast? Yes.

Shouldn't our schools encourage diversity in all things, even in something as trivial as choosing a favorite team? A thousand times, yes.

So to all the fans of UAB, Troy, North Alabama, West Alabama, South Alabama, Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Samford, Jacksonville State, Miles, Birmingham-Southern and beyond who live within these borders, I have a message for you.

Rise up. Speak out. Don't give in to the Alabama-Auburn axis of either-or.

 

 

Gene Chizik is asked about Auburn's options behind Eltoro Freeman in the video. See if you can read between the lines in Chizik's answer: Does he expect Eltoro to play on Friday?

 

WAC Commissioner Karl Benson talks about officiating and Boise State's BCS chances as an at-large. He's been an advocate for a regional or national officiating system and, naturally, of getting Boise State back into the lucrative BCS.

Q: The WAC has combined with the Mountain West and Conference USA this season to share officiating as part of CFO West. Why are neutral officials necessary?

"It's not fair to the official. In non-conference games, it's not fair for the television guys, like last Saturday in the Louisiana Tech-LSU game, to refer to the officials as SEC officials. It just creates a perception that the officials, because they are signed by one conference, have some type of allegiance to that conference. It's been going on for years and years and years where officials' integrity is called into question. I'm one of the biggest believers that officials do not recognize the names of the uniform on the two teams that they're playing. But unfortunately, the public and media are quick to suggest that and that's not fair."

Q: Wait a second. What about athletic department administrators and coaches who write into game contracts that their conference officials will be used. Why would those provisions be written into contracts if administrators and coaches didn't have that perception, too?

"I don't think Louisiana Tech had any choice on Saturday night (against LSU). There are some conferences that mandate it. I know the Pac-10 has long had a conference rule that requires Pac-10 officials at Pac-10 stadiums. There's not any choice in the matter. I have suggested, as an intermediate step to any type of regional or national officiating system, that at least short-term for non-conference games that there is quote neutral set of officials that are neither assigned by the home team or the visiting team. But the logistics surrounding that have made it difficult to pull off."

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages to regional officiating?

"The advantage is very rarely are coaches or even fans, and I can tell you even myself, seeing very familiar faces. And that is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Sometimes coaches do like to see a familiar face in a particular game. But on the other hand, the neutrality component appears to be there. It's obvious. I used to be able to be on the field and shake hands and say hello and greet officials by name. I've stopped going down. I stopped even trying to say hello to the officials."

Q: All across college football this season we have seen issues with instant replay. You've suspended a WAC instant replay official for a mistake. What is going on with replay and what needs to be done for the public to trust it?

"The replay officials are human as well. I know some people will suggest that we need to take the replay official out of the booth. I know Conference USA, when they first experimented with replay, the referee did it on the field. That didn't get the support when we created a national replay system. That will continue to be looked at and argued. If this year results in more replay errors, that may gain some momentum. But I think one of the things we've tried to avoid is the replay officials are not the eighth official. Are we seeing officials taking too long to review something? Then on the other hand, they get criticized for not taking long enough and they miss something blatant. We still have to remember this is only the third or fourth year in replay. Has it helped the game? Absolutely. Can it be refined? Absolutely.

Q: There's supposed to be indisputable video evidence to overturn calls. I've seen plays where there clearly seemed to be evidence to overturn, and the call wasn't changed. And I've seen plays where the replay simply wasn't clear, and the call was changed. Have you noticed a similar pattern?

"I watch games as a fan on Saturday mornings or Saturday nights sometimes. I see the same thing you're seeing. I think replay is still a work in progress."

Q: With USC losing last week, do you believe the door is now wide open for both TCU and Boise State to play in a BCS bowl?

"If USC had won, I'd be arguing today regardless of Southern Cal that Boise State deserves an at-large spot."

Q: Sure. But doesn't USC losing significantly help Boise State?

"Now all the quote experts are talking about Oklahoma State possibily being an at-large; or Stanford being an at-large; or if Pitt beats Cincinnati, then Cincinnati is an at-large; or if Virginia Tech wins out, they're an at-large. Last week it was Southern Cal. This week it's team X, Y or Z who may be a hurdle for Boise State. All Boise State has done over a six-year period is have a winning record that's greater than any other team. And the one time they were given an opportunity to win a BCS bowl on the big stage, they performed at all three categories of what constitutes a deserving team. They took 25,000 fans to Phoenix. The television rating was the sixth-best out of the last three years. People forget they were ahead of Oklahoma by 14 points going into the fourth quarter. Yes, they needed some trick plays to win the game and they performed those trick plays. But they dominated the game midway through the fourth quarter."

Q: You don't have to sell Boise State to me.

"(Laughs). Sorry. I'm used to doing that. That's my message right there."

View full sizeMark Ingram continues to run toward the Heisman Trophy, which could be a first for the University of Alabama. Here he is in action against LSU. (The Birmingham News / Mark Almond)Mark Ingram has an opportunity to bring the first Heisman Trophy ever to the University of Alabama. HeismanPundit.com ranks the top 5 this way: 1. Mark Ingram. 2. Colt McCoy. 3. Toby Gerhart. 4. C.J. Spiller. 5. Tim Tebow. We ask Birmingham News columnist Ray Melick, a Heisman voter:  What does Ingram have to do in these final three games to win the Heisman?

Auburn is off this week after a crushing loss to Georgia. Very few people will give Auburn a chance of beating Alabama. What does Auburn have to do in order to be competitive? Also, where will Auburn go bowling?

How about the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers? They are 5-5, within one game of being bowl eligible, and two wins away from winning their division. The last two games are tough: at East Carolina and home against Central Florida. Will the Blazers get it done?

Download Birmingham News Sports Podcast Episode 12.mp3

Eltoro Freeman: On the sidelines (Birmingham News/Hal Yeager)Auburn linebacker Eltoro Freeman didn't practice for the second straight day Thursday because of injuries, and that brought backup Jonathan Evans to the forefront again.

Evans had to fill in for Freeman after the linebacker was hurt in the first quarter against Georgia last week. Freeman has time to recover because Auburn isn't playing this week. But he's dealing with a concussion, said the Auburn radio network last Saturday, and has been seen in a protective boot this week as the Tigers work toward their Nov. 27 game against Alabama.

"Toro is going to be a day-by-day situation,'' said coach Gene Chizik after Thursday's workout. "We don't really know when that will be."

Chizik said Evans gained experience against Georgia and got "a good dose of SEC football last week.

"It's not that he hasn't played. The pressure, just of a freshman in general having to start a game, if that's the case, there will be some pressure on him,' Chizik said.

"Right now we're working through Jonathan as being `that' guy. But you've got to remember we've got to look at who's the next guy as well. It's a little bit of a challenging situation for us, but with Eltoro being day-to-day, he's certainly not out of the equation, either."

Defensive coordinator Ted Roof said Evans has "gotten better every day. He's making plays. He's more active."

Chizik said he doesn't see linebacker Adam Herring, who has been out for weeks with a heel, as an option.

**Auburn practiced 90 minutes Thursday. The Tigers will practice today and then enjoy their first Saturday off this season.

"The preparation is going well. The tempo is good,'' Chizik said.

Chizik said the Tigers hit in practice, a least some.

"You can't remove yourself from that, even this late in the season,'' Chizik said.