SEC PICKS: LSU keeps it close, but that's it

EDITOR’S NOTE: Opelika-Auburn News sports designer Tim Cottrell picks the winners for this week’s SEC games.

LAST WEEK’S RECORD: 6-1
SEASON RECORD: 46-13

Enjoy today, because it features the last truly big game you’ll see before the SEC Championship game on Dec. 5, barring upsets, of course.

No. 9 LSU’s trip to No. 3 Alabama will pretty much decide the course of the SEC West and perhaps even the national title picture.

An LSU win would put it in the driver’s seat for the division crown and maybe even put them back in the national title race. The Crimson Tide are already in the championship hunt, and need only to keep winning to send themselves to Pasadena, Calif., for the BCS title game.

The big story in this one — aside from the title aspirations and Nick Saban vs. Les Miles — is what to expect from the two teams’ offenses.

After looking very good through the first five weeks, the Alabama offense was not good over its last three games before the bye week.

After looking borderline awful through six games, the LSU offense looked very good against Auburn and Tulane.

Which ones will show up?

The safe bet here is that neither offense will be particularly good when facing each teams’ stout defense. But Alabama would seem to have the edge in the fact that its defense is much better.

Odds are pretty good that this will mirror LSU’s last big game — the loss to Florida. It will be low-scoring and the score will be close, but the outcome will never truly be in doubt.

The pick: Alabama 16, LSU 7

Vanderbilt at No. 1 Florida
Brandon Spikes, being such a class individual, has decided that he should serve a full-game suspension, and the Gators will surely be in trouble without him.

I couldn’t even type that with a straight face.

Vanderbilt is back to being a terrible football team. The Gators may have snapped out of their funk.

Regardless, Spikes could be suspended for the remainder of the regular season and it wouldn’t make a difference until Dec. 5.

The pick: Florida 45, Vanderbilt 7

South Carolina at Arkansas
The Gamecocks finally seem to be what we thought they were — mediocre.

Arkansas, after navigating an absolute murderers’ row, now has a chance to make some noise over the season’s final month.

The Hogs have had good fortune against the Gamecocks for the vast majority of both teams’ run in the conference, and today should be no different.

The pick: Arkansas 34, South Carolina 17

Memphis at Tennessee
These teams play fairly infrequently, but one thing remains constant: Memphis always gives the Vols a game.

Signs wouldn’t seem to point to that being the case, with Tennessee finally playing well and the Tigers one of the big under-the-radar disappointments of the year, but I’m going to say it’ll be close just to be safe.

The pick: Tennessee 23, Memphis 16

SEC vs. FCS
A league known for its shaky out-of-conference scheduling may be hitting an all-time low today, with four (4, F-O-U-R, CUATRO) teams facing schools from the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA).

Of those, I’ll give Georgia a pass. The Bulldogs have played eight games in nine weeks against some of the toughest competition anyone has ever had to face. And this will be the last time they’ll win all season, so it’s OK.

Auburn, Ole Miss and Kentucky get no such favors.

It’s just a shame that teams — everywhere, not just in the SEC — have used the 12th game as an opportunity to schedule patsies, rather than scheduling compelling matchups. And the real losers are the fans, who foot the bill in season tickets for games not worth the trip.

But at least the little guys can plug budget holes.

The picks: Auburn 63, Furman 14; Georgia 38, Tennessee Tech 16; Kentucky 37, Eastern Kentucky 0; Mississippi 51, Northern Arizona 13.

Tim Cottrell is sports designer of the Opelika-Auburn News. He writes a weekly column on college football during the season. You can also read him on the O-A Sports Blog at oanow.com. He can be reached at 737-2511 or tcottrell@oanow.com.