SEC playoffs begins this weekend!
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by G8rBryan
Go Blue! This time that chant is NOT referring to the Michigan Wolverines but in fact to the Kentucky Wildcats, of all teams. Kentucky is coming off their biggest win in school history in a thriller with LSU. UK senior Quarterback Andre' Woodson has placed himself back in the Heisman race.
Six teams enter this weekend with a "must win" situation if they want to advance to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee each have just one loss in the Eastern Division, while Alabama, Auburn and LSU are the one-loss teams in the Western Division. Florida is sitting there with two losses, but the Gators are hardly out of it. Florida plays at Kentucky. Tennessee plays at Alabama. Auburn plays at LSU. Just think of the SEC having their our own little single-elimination tournament the next few weeks. It's difficult not to predict a Florida-LSU rematch in the SEC championship game. Their game two weeks ago, a 28-24 LSU victory, was one for the ages. Are there two better, more talented teams in the conference? Probably not. The winner of Saturday's Auburn-LSU matchup probably can go ahead and make reservations in Atlanta. Five of the past seven years, either Auburn or LSU has represented the West in the SEC championship game, and nobody else in the conference has fared better in SEC games since the start of the 2000 season. Auburn is 46-16 and LSU 46-17. Tuberville has won nine of his past 10 games against top-10 teams and never has lost to a top-5 team in five tries as Auburn's coach. In 2004, when his Tigers finished unbeaten and never got a chance to play for the national championship, Tuberville lobbied loudly for a playoff. This year, he'll get one.
While Auburn, LSU and Florida all are quite familiar with these proceedings, this is completely new ground for Kentucky. Then again, the Wildcats certainly looked like they belonged last week in rallying from a 13-point, second-half deficit and making every big play they needed to make to knock off LSU in three overtimes. Reminded that Florida has won 20 in a row over Kentucky, Coach Brooks joked that he was responsible for only four of those.
There's nothing like playoff football!
