One thing you learn early in this business is you can’t control the outcome.

Maybe that’s why I live for the advance.

I like the hype, the anticipation, all the while knowing that most pitchers’ duels involving Cy Young candidates end with both pulled after 5 innings in a 10-8 slugfest.

Undettered, here are 5 things I can’t wait to watch unfold today in and around the SEC:

1. Bentley vs. Lock

The last time two SEC QBs topped 400 yards in the same game was the fall of 2015, when Dak Prescott (508) outdueled Brandon Allen (406) in a 51-50 thriller that somehow exceeded the hype.

The SEC has never had two quarterbacks pass for 450 yards in the same game. Though Andre Woodson (450) and Chris Nickson (446) came mighty close in 2006.

So of course this means Missouri’s defense will find its way to the field this week and neither Jake Bentley nor Drew Lock will enjoy anything close to resembling their Week 1 success.

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But a man can hope. And today, I hope we see history. Check the bulbs in the scoreboard, it’s time to light it up.

2. Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!

Joe Frazier, in this case, being the ACC.

After one Saturday, the ACC’s Playoff bid already is on the ropes. The SEC has a chance to end the fight tonight.

The ACC went 0-3 against the SEC in Week 1. Its top-ranked team last week, then-No. 3 Florida State, lost its best player and quarterback for the season. FSU might stay ranked for a while, but big picture, the ‘Noles are reduced to a spoiler role.

So short of Miami or Louisville running the table, there will be no recovering if Auburn knocks out defending champion Clemson on Saturday, on the road, under the lights, at Death Valley.

It’s the game of the week. An Auburn win would legitimize its Playoff pursuit, and there’s not much else standing in Jarrett Stidham’s way until an Oct. 14 trip to LSU.

The SEC bashers were quick to shout that the league only had (and still has) one team ranked in the top 10 (a poll many of the bashers control with their vote).

Relax. Saturday will reveal which of these cats are Paper Tigers.

3. Hello, Jake Fromm

Georgia isn’t exactly fretting its quarterback situation, is it?

If Kirby Smart were nervous about Jake Fromm making his first start on the road at South Bend, he certainly didn’t show it throughout various interviews this week.

Instead, Smart talked about Fromm’s poise, leadership. It helps that he’ll probably hand off 40-45 times to seniors Nick Chubb and Sony Michel — a luxury Franks doesn’t have. It also helps to have a defensive line that is thoroughly capable of neutralizing Irish dual-threat Brandon Wimbush, who has only thrown 20 more career passes than Fromm (15).

If the situation dictates, can Fromm do more than manage the game like he did in relief in Week 1? That’s the key question everybody wants answered. We could begin to find out tonight.

4. Texas A&M’s intensity level

Have the Aggies shut it down?

We’ll find out in the first quarter of a game they should win by 35.

ESPN’s score predictor gives the Aggies a 99.5 percent chance of beating FCS Nicholls State. Of course, that’s about the same percentage the Aggies had in the fourth quarter against UCLA.

The only drama in this one should be the reception Kevin Sumlin gets in the home opener. Given the disgusting, racially charged letter he received, it might be a warm reception. Heaven help him, however, if the Aggies open with a 46-second three-and-out.

5. No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 2 Ohio State

If you think the ACC is on the ropes, the referee is at nine in regards to the Big 12.

Ohio State can survive a loss. Heck, the Buckeyes lost at home by double digits to a .500 ACC team in 2014, and that didn’t matter. So this game couldn’t be any more meaningless in regards to the Buckeyes’ Playoff bid.

But it means everything to Oklahoma and the Big 12. Lose this, and the Big 12 will hear the rest of the year about Baylor’s loss to Liberty (poetic justice?), Texas’ loss to Maryland and West Virginia’s loss to Virginia Tech in Week 1.

The most important thing to remember about the Playoff committee’s approach is this: They’re not looking for a reason to bring you in; they’re looking for a reason to kick you out.

Oklahoma will provide that reason if it loses its only non-conference test in Columbus.