Team USA beat Russia. Chaminade took out Ralph Sampson. App State made the Big House its house.

We get it. Upsets happen.

We just don’t think we’ll see one Saturday in the SEC Championship Game, where Alabama is favored to pound Florida by as much as 24 in some sports books.

What we’ve been debating all week is whether the Gators can keep it close enough to cover the spread.

Answer: Alabama 38, Florida 9.

This will be one of the easier wins of the season for Alabama, and should the unthinkable happen, it would mark the biggest upset in SEC Championship Game history. Alabama enters 21.5 point favorites, but somehow that line just doesn’t seem big enough.

Florida’s biggest weapon — its kicker — Eddy Pineiro will make three field goals, and Florida’s offense won’t score a point.

— Jon Cooper, director of operations

Answer: Alabama and Florida are separated by 14 spots in the latest AP Poll, with the Crimson Tide at No. 1 and the Gators at No. 15.

Six times in the 25-year history of the SEC Championship Game the two combatants have had at least that much distance between them in the rankings. The higher-ranked teams are 5-1 in those matchups.

The lone exception was 2001, when No. 21 LSU upset No. 2 Tennessee 31-20. Coincidentally, leading the Bayou Bengals that day was none other than current ‘Bama coach Nick Saban. Needless to say, his days of being the underdog are long gone. The Tide are 24-point favorites over UF.

There’s no reason whatsoever to think Florida can win this game unless Alabama collectively throws up on itself with four turnovers and a dozen penalties. I’m not sure the Gators could cash in anyway.

The average score of those six aforementioned title games? 35-10. That sounds about right to me.

— John Crist, senior writer

Answer: I like Florida to lose by only single digits in this game.

The Gators have nothing to lose in this game, and much like the Tennessee, LSU and Florida State games this season, I expect Florida to come out and play with caution to the wind — throwing deep, going for it on fourth down and not settling for field goals in the red zone.

The strategy didn’t work against the Seminoles, but the offense had success against the Vols early and of course the Gators got the biggest win under Jim McElwain in Death Valley two weeks ago thanks in large part to the gutsy decision to throw deep despite Austin Appleby standing in his own end zone.

While the Gators are expected to get dominated in this game, Nick Saban is already fielding questions about whether this game even matters given the notion that Alabama is a lock for the Playoff regardless of the outcome in Atlanta. Not exactly the best recipe for a fully focused team this week in Tuscaloosa.

The Jalen Hurts for Heisman talk continues to baffle me, as the true freshman has yet to show me he can win a game with his arm against a quality defense or throw accurately while under pressure. Florida’s defense won’t be beat by Hurts’ arm in this game, which also suggests to me a lower scoring game for the Tide’s offense in Atlanta.

I’ll take Alabama in this one by a score of 21-13.

— Michael Wayne Bratton, news editor

Answer: The Gators’ only hope of covering the spread is holding Alabama to 17 points or fewer.

You’d say that’s impossible. I’d say LSU just did it.

As great as this Alabama team is, I still don’t trust that running game beyond Jalen Hurts. It’s unbelievable that a true freshman could be the most valuable player in America, on America’s best best team, no less, but that’s absolutely the case.

Alabama’s offense without Hurts is beatable. He has won big games almost by himself, but he has yet to make enough mistakes to lose one. It’s doubtful Hurts throws 30-some passes, giving the Gators’ ballhawks enough chances to make a game-turning play.

That’s what it will take for the banged up Gators to cover. A pick six or scoop-and-score, a punt return from Antonio Callaway, three 50-yard field goals from Eddy Pineiro.

Common sense says the Gators are too banged up to pull off any of that. Common sense says Alabama 38, Florida 6.

Common sense is also as boring as a naked dog at The Varsity. What’ll ya have? For our sake, let’s hope common sense gets stuck in traffic somewhere in Buckhead and the Gators give us a game worth watching — with a large Orange to wash it down.

— Chris Wright, executive editor

Chris Wright is Executive Editor at SaturdayDownSouth.com. Email him at cwright@saturdaydownsouth.com and follow him on Twitter @FilmRoomEditor.