It’s a big weekend this time around: Unbeaten 3rd-ranked LSU faces Steve Spurrier’s new-and-improved Gamecocks in Baton Rouge, and Nick Saban faces the uncertain strength of Georgia in Tuscaloosa.

Spurrier may yet turn South Carolina into a real football power, but that this isn’t the year — even without factoring in the home field advantage, the squad Les Miles is building at LSU could very well end up in the championship game in January. We don’t figure the Gamecocks are ready for that quite yet. (Florida, the other potential title contender in the SEC, should roll to an easy victory this week against Ole Miss, so look for the top 3 spots to stay more or less the same next week, barring any bizzaro upsets.)

As for the Tide, this game is sort of make or break for Saban. They’re doing well, and had a big win against Arkansas last week — it can’t be said enough that they managed a come-from-behind victory for the first time in 22 games last Saturday — so they should be confident. If he escapes here, he’s got a great chance at not dropping a game until much later in the year: we figure that the next three after Georgia (FSU, Houston, and Ole Miss) should be wins, and he’s got a better than even chance against Tennessee. LSU’s a problem (11/3), but after that lie only Mississippi State, UL-Monore, and an already-shown-to-be-troubled Auburn. It could be a very good year for the Tide, since it’s hard to see more than two losses IF they take Georgia. In the spirit of keeping a positive attitude, then, we’ll pick Alabama to take Georgia, no spread.

This week also has a meaningless game: Penn State-Michigan. JoePa hasn’t beaten Michigan in 11 years, and we don’t look for them to start this week. Oh, and Notre Dame will lose, too, dropping to 0-4 against Michigan State.