Happy birthday to my good friend Robert (a frequent Mailbag contributor), even though the jerk didn’t invite me to Oktoberfest with him last week. Some friend.

Would I have been able to go? No, dear readers, I would not have been able to go. It’s during the heart of college football season, and I assure you I am too busy to be jaunting around Europe.

However, why isn’t there a Mayfest? Or even a Junefest? Both would work better for my schedule. Get it together, Europe!

Anyway, here are your questions for this week’s SDS Mailbag:

@AuburnAJ:

Which would be cooler to have on the sideline during the Auburn-Florida game — a live tiger or a live alligator?

Tigers are my favorite animal (particularly the Missouri version), so I’m going to go with a tiger here. Having a majestic tiger prowling up and down the sideline would be a much cooler sight than just watching an alligator basking in the sun.

Plus, the game is in Gainesville, so there are plenty of alligators in the area for fans to see in the wild. Tigers? Not so much.

No matter which of the live animals you have on the sideline, I’d bet Auburn RB Boobie Whitlow wouldn’t be too keen on running into either of them. They’re a lot scarier than Bully!

@Dobbe8:

After watching Notre Dame put up a good fight against Georgia a couple of weeks ago, it got me wondering — how would the Irish fare in the SEC?

Before Notre Dame’s game against Georgia, I would have laughed at this question. However, the Irish proved a lot in Athens, playing the Bulldogs tight.

I think they could be a second-tier team in the SEC. Would they challenge Alabama, LSU and Auburn this year? No, I don’t think they would. But they can clearly hang with Georgia, and I think they’d be able to challenge teams like Florida, Texas A&M and Mizzou.

They’d be in the SEC East if they ever joined, so let’s say they go 5-2 in SEC East play (beating Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Kentucky and losing to Mizzou and Georgia). That’s a pretty solid squad.

Does a team like that have a chance to make the Playoff? Absolutely not, but the Irish could hang in the SEC, at least this year.

BONUS: Dobbe’s Locks of the Week went 0-for-3 last week, another perfectly imperfect week of gambling. Seriously, just fade these picks and it’s sure to be free money! Here are three more picks for this week’s games:

  • Auburn at Florida (+3.5) — I am ALL IN on the Kyle Trask Gators. Add in the throwbacks and it’s a lock.
  • Troy at Mizzou (Over 65 points) — At 65, it’s a high enough number that we need Troy to participate. Their offense hasn’t been an issue this year, though, so I think you can count on 10 to 14 points from their side. That should be enough.
  • TCU at Iowa State (-3) — The Cyclones are rocking some black and white alternate uniforms. I don’t love the early start time, but ISU normally does a good job of getting hyped up for big games.

Dobbe Locks of the Week 2019 record: 4-14

@ClayNeely:

Could Auburn beat Ohio State?

This is a tough question at the moment, because Auburn has proven itself in Texas against both Oregon and Texas A&M. The Tigers also picked up an impressive win against Mississippi State last weekend.

The Buckeyes haven’t played anybody on that level yet, but they’ve looked like world-beaters thus far. QB Justin Fields looks like a legitimate Heisman contender and the defense is nasty. Auburn may have the best defensive line in the country, but Ohio State DE Chase Young could be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

If these teams met on a neutral field, I’d make Ohio State a 2.5-point favorite, but I wouldn’t feel good about betting that game. I’d probably just go against whatever pick Dobbe made for the game.

@Topper_Fan:

Do you think Tennessee will win a conference game this year?

On the surface, this looks like a resounding “no,” but you have to dig a little bit deeper. This is largely the same Vols squad that took down Auburn in Auburn last year. Also, Tennessee beat Kentucky in convincing fashion.

With games against South Carolina and Vanderbilt in Knoxville and a road game at Kentucky, I think the Vols will win at least one of those games. However, I would not put any money on that. The Vols could very well be staring 1-11 or 2-10 in the face. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt for now, but we’ll see how they look during this tough stretch of games coming up.

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.