From ESPN:
On ACC vs SEC Games
Tim Tebow: These games really favor the ACC. You’ve got your top-tier teams from the ACC versus the average or the lower average teams in the SEC. The SEC could really make a statement today, or the ACC could step up and get some really big wins.
Marcus Spears: We’ll find out if college football is as tough in other conferences as it is in the SEC today. You look at Florida/Florida State, you look at Clemson, and Louisville. All these guys are ranked. They’ve been playing good football. If these games are close and if some of these SEC teams win, I want to have a conversation with everybody in the country.
Paul Finebaum: I thought the ACC was a basketball league, but the SEC had two Final Four teams… How’d you do ACC?
LSU at Texas A&M
Joe Tessitore: It all came down to this, the LSU win. Kyle Allen was intercepted, but he thought LSU had jumped offsides. The free play was not rewarded. LSU won this game 23 to 17… The head linesman reported in and said, “Yes, we saw the movement, but we felt he was not offsides.”
Tim Tebow: It’s just disappointing when a team loses a game because the quarterback tries to force the ball since thinks it is offsides.
Arkansas at Missouri
Marcus Spears: Missouri is very dangerous in the SEC Championship. The problem is, when we talk about Missouri, it’s not the flash, the bells and whistles…But they find a way. These guys love playing games that are close in the fourth quarter. The mentality of Missouri is that if we’re in the game, we’re going to win it. I think that is what has propelled them to where they are right now.
Paul Finebaum: Missouri doesn’t bring the cache that Georgia would have brought. A Georgia/Alabama game is big time. Missouri is still just a little bit off-Broadway. We’ve talked about it every week. They keep watching us being disrespectful and winning.
Joe Tessitore: They’re crashing through the door of Broadway!
Kentucky at Louisville
Tim Tebow: I don’t this is the day that Kentucky breaks through. I think Louisville’s defense will be able to contain Patrick Towles. I think they’ll make a few more plays. I think Bobby Petrino has a good game plan. He’s a very good football coach.
South Carolina at Clemson
Tim Tebow: As disappointing of a season as it has been for South Carolina, they still have the opportunity and the ability to be as good as most teams are in the country. This offense can score points. Pharoh Cooper might be the most underrated player in the country. This South Carolina team has talent, and they can be very dangerous.
Marcus Spears: When we look at the teams on the bottom of these conferences, there is one common denominator – they all play bad defense. You look at Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State. The teams that are playing for things that matter – they’ve been able to play good defense consistently. South Carolina’s biggest woe has been their defense. If they can at least stifle Clemson a little bit, their offense has enough fire power to win the game.
Georgia Tech at Georgia
Tim Tebow: (On Georgia’s mindset after Missouri clinched the SEC East title): You’re only human. You were going to be playing for an SEC Championship, and maybe have a shot at going to the first-ever College Football Playoff, and now you’re just playing a Georgia Tech team that you’ve owned the last few years… Georgia might come out and play a little lackadaisical. You can’t do that against Georgia Tech, because the triple option will absolutely punch you in the mouth.
Paul Finebaum: One thing you won’t hear in the Georgia locker room is, “Hey we have a chance to go out and beat the team that’s going to play in the ACC Championship.” That won’t inspire them.
Mississippi State at Ole Miss
Paul Finebaum: Ole Miss isn’t confident. They may say they’re confident, but they feel like this season has crashed and burned and this game has gotten away from them even before it’s started.
Marcus Spears: I thought this game might decide who wins the West earlier this season, with the way both of these teams were playing. Now you have a situation where a really good football team is in a spoiler position… Ole Miss is very dangerous today. Mississippi State needs to bring the mentality that they’ve brought most of the season – to win and dominate one football game.
Tim Tebow: There’s no question that Ole Miss is dangerous, but for Mississippi State this might be the biggest game in school history. To get to the first-ever College Football Playoff…what that means to the school, what that means for recruits, what that means for the next four or five years…
Marcus Spears: The only concern I have about Dak Prescott right now is that he’s been a little turnover laden recently. You cannot turn the football over in this game. This defense has the ability to take it back to the house.
Paul Finebaum: I think it’s all on Mississippi State. Beating Alabama was Ole Miss’s greatest day ever. Today it’s about destroying the party, destroying the dreams of State. I think for State, it’s not only about winning this game, but it’s about making a statement. A win may not be enough to get them in the College Football Playoff. There’s a lot of blowback against the Bulldogs.
Tim Tebow: On a Saturday afternoon at 3:30, this Ole Miss team can be one of the best teams in the country. Yes, they have three loses, but this defense is one of the best in the country. If Bo Wallace comes out and he is “Good Bo,”…. then this Ole miss team is really, really good.
Florida at Florida State
Paul Finebaum: I don’t buy Florida State, and neither does the pubic. They’ve become the most polarizing team that I have seen in many, many years of watching college football. Every week people cheer against them, and every week we see the same result. Some people think that today will be a little bit different.
Marcus Spears: These rivalry games are the games where your star players have to play like stars. This is a platform for them to do it. The whole state of Florida will be rocking because of this game. If Florida steps up and make plays, they can really change the outcome of this game.
Tim Tebow: I think the key to this game is to make it a street fight. Do not make it about execution. Do not let Jameis Winston go off. Do not let them make big plays. You physically hand the ball off to Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor. You make it a street fight. That’s Florida’s best chance…If they can eliminate the big plays from Florida State and make it a street fight, throwing punch for punch, then I think Florida’s got a chance.
Marcus Spears: Florida State has not lost a game in two years. There is some respect that needs to be given…They’ve found ways to win those ball games…I don’t want to discredit Florida State, but I will say, if they get behind on Florida, Florida has the type of makeup to not give up a lead.
Tennessee at Vanderbilt
Tim Tebow: I think this is bigger for Vanderbilt. If they’re able to get a win like this versus an in-state rival with the University of Tennessee, it will mean a lot for their program, and also validate what their coaches are saying to them every single week… giving them some belief.
Marcus Spears: It’s huge for Tennessee. If Tennessee loses this game, they’re back to square one….This is one of those games that you can’t lose if you’re trying to take your program to the next level. Tennessee needs this win to continue the concept of “We’re moving in the right direction.”
Paul Finebaum: Vanderbilt going winless in the SEC is not a new concept…Tennessee has a chance to make a statement here at the end of the year.
Auburn at Alabama
Paul Finebaum: I think it’s about revenge and redemption for Alabama. But, it’s also about a bigger fish to fry…Auburn is just another game to get to the next game.
Paul Finebaum: A lot of fans think it’s hatred between the coaches, the players … Nick Saban doesn’t hate Gus Malzahn. Nick Saban hates himself for letting that game get away. I think that’s what the story is going to be about tonight.
Tim Tebow: It’s great rush offense against great rush defense…The number one thing Auburn does is run the ball…but Alabama can stop the run without bringing safeties into the box. When you can do that, you’re not as susceptible to play action over the top, which is what I believe is what Auburn has to do to win this football game.
Marcus Spears: Alabama has a dual-threat quarterback…We’ve seen Blake Sims take this team to another level…Blake Sims has been the key to this Alabama offense being so disastrous for defenses.
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
