So, who’s getting caught in the rat trap in Week 8?

As we were reminded last week, even the unranked teams are on scholarship, too.

With that in mind, here are the five things I’m looking forward to the most today in Week 8 in and around the SEC.

5. Kids say the darndest things …

Alabama has lost four home games in the past nine seasons. The Tide’s last home loss came in 2015, to Chad Kelly and Ole Miss. That had as much to do with fate as film study.

Tennessee QB Jarrett Guarantano told reporters this week he is well aware of the history and is looking forward to the challenge. He was respectful, but still full of youthful optimism.

“Personally, I’m just excited to see what type of test and what type of ability I have against Alabama,” he said.

Most of us have an idea of how his afternoon will unfold, first under relentless duress, finally under a pile of crimson-clad defenders.

There’s no way this ends well for him or the Vols.

At least Guarantano didn’t look into the camera and say, “Alabama, you’re next.”

Speaking of Bama …

Not that there is any doubt as to who is No. 1, but this is the Tide’s last chance to impress the Playoff selection committee before the initial rankings are released Oct. 31. (Alabama is off Oct. 28, ostensibly to prepare for LSU, but we all know it’s so Nick Saban can get an early start on his Halloween birthday celebration. If he dresses up as the Orkin man, I’ll spit my sweet tea.)

Alabama is in the midst of its most dominant four-game stretch under Saban, outscoring four SEC opponents 193-31.

There will be no letup Saturday.

Alabama has won 10 consecutive in the series, four of those by 30 or more points.

Twice the Tide has rolled up 45 or more points against Butch Jones. Alabama’s series record for points in this game is 56, set in Knoxville in 1986.

That’s the number to watch.

4. The Shea Show vs. DBU

Shea Patterson, somehow, is staying on pace to shatter Tim Couch’s single-season SEC record for passing yards (4,275). Patterson will get one more game; Couch set the record in 11 games, but Couch also threw it much more often than Patterson. He averaged 50 passes per game in 1998.

Here’s a comparison, projecting Patterson’s totals for a 12-game regular season based on his six-game numbers (2,143 yards, 17 TDs, 6 INTs).

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Today, The Shea Show welcomes LSU’s DBU to The Grove. Big picture, there isn’t much on the line. The entertainment factor, however, is off the charts.

If you’re a fan of go routes and NFL matchups on the outside, this is your game of the week.

To stay on pace, Patterson needs to throw for more than 350 yards; LSU has allowed just 7 QBs to pass for 350 yards since 2000.

Patterson leads the SEC in passing yards (2,143) and completion percentage (65.8) and shares the top spot with 17 TD passes. This isn’t a dink show, either.

Patterson is first or tied for first in completions of 20+ yards (27), 30+ yards (30), 40+ yards (11).

LSU has allowed just five pass plays of 30 yards or more. They’ve allowed just 5 TD passes, tied for fewest in the SEC.

Matt Hinton provided a superb and thorough breakdown of how DBU is daring quarterbacks to take shots and punishing them for doing so.

3. Please, Missouri, don’t embarrass us today

(Quick aside: Does this game have a name? If not, may I suggest the Geography Bowl, sponsored by Mapquest? Missouri is in the SEC East, Idaho is in the … Sun Belt? The average annual snowfall in Moscow, Idaho, is 49 inches! That’s a foot more than Chicago! Did the MAC not want the Vandals?)

The fact that an SEC home team is favored by a mere two touchdowns against a two-win Sun Belt team is awkward enough.

Of course, Idaho’s two wins are double the Tigers’ total.

Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Mizzou looked good, or at least significantly better, last week in a loss to Georgia. Let’s hope the offense picks up where it left off and the defense wakes up in time for the late-morning kickoff.

2. Kentucky and the ghosts of 1977

The Wildcats, off last week, have so much at stake today. Road wins are difficult, and road wins against the West are the rarest of rare: the Cats’ last one came in 2009, at Auburn.

A win today in Starkville pushes Kentucky to 3-1 in the SEC, another critical step closer to posting a winning record in the SEC for the first time since 1977.

That’s the longest any Power 5 program has gone without posting a winning season in its conference. Indiana is next; its last winning season in the Big Ten was 1993. The Hoosiers, already 0-3, are a safe bet to inherit the streak this year if only Kentucky can get to five SEC wins. That alone should motivate anybody in blue.

Tennessee, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt follow. Considering Kentucky closes SEC play at Georgia, the Wildcats have to win three of those four or the streak will live on.

1. Elsewhere, around the globe

Jim Harbaugh isn’t the most popular person in the South, but he should be today. You want his Wolverines to upset No. 2 Penn State tonight in Happy Valley. That will push Georgia to No. 2 in the polls, a place the Bulldogs will stay as long as they keep winning.

Penn State’s resume is embarrassingly weak, but the Big Ten has proven bullet-proof to scheduling questions. It simply doesn’t matter that the best and only non-conference Power 5 team the Nittany Lions will play is a Pitt team that just fell to 2-5.

If Michigan and Ohio State beat Penn State, it’s another bad look for the B1G. Penn State obviously would be done, but it would again raise questions about how good the league could possibly be when Oklahoma rolled into Columbus and steamrolled Ohio State.

As long as Penn State keeps winning, that issue can’t be raised.

If you want two SEC teams in the Playoff, you need to eliminate Penn State. A one-loss Ohio State, which lost its only game of consequence, shouldn’t have a compelling case against a one-loss Georgia or Alabama team that both beat ranked Power 5 teams away from home.

Georgia’s win at Notre Dame is looking better each week. Oklahoma’s recent loss just makes Ohio State’s resume look all the more weak.

Is it not telling that last year Ohio State gave up 14.8 points per game against Big Ten teams but surrendered a season-high 31 in its Playoff loss to Clemson? And this year, it’s allowing 12.0 points to B1G teams, yet allowed a season-high 31 at home to the only non-conference Power 5 team it faced.

What am I missing? With virtually the same team (15 starters returned, including the quarterback), Ohio State has been outscored 62-16 the only two times it’s stepped outside the friendly confines of the Big Ten.

Notre Dame has a more deserving argument to be ranked No. 6 than Ohio State, especially considering how the Irish toyed with Michigan State in a 20-point beatdown in East Lansing.

Speaking of the Irish, they will absolutely jump into the Playoff mix if they take care of No. 11 Southern Cal tonight. A victory could essentially end the Pac-12’s Playoff bid, too. We already know what the committee thinks about Pac-12 and Big 12 football.

Those two are always the first to go.