Around the SEC East: Week 3

#19 Florida 1-1 (0-0 SEC)

Florida had a bye last weekend but has a chance this week to right the ship against Tennessee. The way their schedule sets up, it's going to be tough for Florida to finish strong this year. They'll have to get the offense moving soon in order to salvage the year. They could be incredible this season but could also feasibly go 6-6 (worst case). With as shallow as their fan base was last season, not traveling to the SUGAR BOWL, can you imagine what the turnout would be like at the Motor City Bowl?

#9 Georgia 1-1 (1-0)

The Bulldogs play the North Texas Mean Green this weekend, essentially giving them two weeks to prepare for LSU. Georgia is in an interesting situation since they only play two more ranked opponents this season (LSU and Florida). Couple that with the fact that they're really good (shocking), and there's a great chance they'll be in the national championship hunt at the end of the year. A rematch of Bama-Georgia in Atlanta could be an epic game, just like last season.

Kentucky 1-2 (0-0)

There are some encouraging takeaways from Kentucky's two touchdown loss to Louisville. Certainly it's good to see that they were able to hold Teddy Bridgewater in relative check. The Wildcats also averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Unfortunately, they struggled to pass and gave up 5.9 yards per carry. I'm going to get sick of saying this, but they've got a long way to go. That passing probably isn't getting better after the bye this week against Florida.

Missouri 2-0 (0-0)

Missouri faces Indiana this weekend after a week off. With two weeks to prepare for the Hoosiers. Missouri needs to win. The Hoosiers are 2-1 but aren't a strong test for SEC preparedness. Their scoring defense ranks 82nd in the country. despite facing the offensive juggernauts of Indiana State, Navy, and Bowling Green. If Missouri wins, they're doing what they need to do at this point. If they lose, Ole Miss can likely chalk that game up as a win.

#12 South Carolina 2-1 (1-1)

The Gamecocks take on the UCF Knights (who are better than you'd think). The Knights are comnig off an upset win over Penn State, and the Gamecocks just allowed Vanderbilt to nearly come back from 28 points down in a sleepy second half. It could be an interesting game, but I imagine the talent differential will push South Carolina over the top. We don't really know what we have with this squad yet. Everyone is ready to say they're not as good as the nation thought, but they haven't played an easy opponent yet. They're being compared against teams who have played Directional Michigan twice. Let's see how the perception changes later in the season.

Tennessee 2-1 (0-0)

Oh wow. Thanks, Tennessee. This is what always happens. Great teams from far away schedule teams from the bottom half of the SEC then talk smack about it all year. If you're looking for a bright spot in Tennessee's 59-14 defeat at the hands of Oregon, don't. There isn't one.Oregon just dominated the game from start to finish. Big setback for Butch Jones' club. There's obviously a big rebuilding job going on there, but it looked to be further along than it may have actually been. The volunteers face Florida this weekend in a game they need to win if they want to bounce back into guarantees of bowl-eligibility.

Vanderbilt 1-2 (0-2)

Vanderbilt lost by ten to South Carolina, but the score was worse than it looked. It was 28-10 at the half and was never really in doubt. They have to find an offense that doesn't revolve around Jordan Matthews (even though he's great). Until they get production from other players, they're going to be containable, particularly by teams that aren't missing their top two corners due to injury. The Commodores face a hapless U-Mass this weekend. They'll win by a lot. They really need to be focused on Missouri, which comes to town in three weeks. Starting 0-3 in the conference with losses to Ole Miss and Missouri would likely be damning to their hopes at a good season.