The big game this weekend is the Saban Bowl in Baton Rouge. There will be hugs and kisses all around when Nick walks into Death Valley, I'm sure. Georgia/Kentucky, Arkansas/South Carolina, and Florida/Vanderbilt figure as games where we might see an upset or two.

Check out our friend's blog The Ghost of Chucky...Mullins, That Is for more previews.

Georgia at Kentucky

Last time the Dawgs went to Lexington, Andre Woodson and the Cats punched Georgia in the mouth and sent Mark Richt and Co. home with a loss.  That was in the middle of Georgia's tough 2006 season, when the Dawgs were also blown out at home by Tennessee, beaten by Vandy, and didn't pick themselves up until they upset a highly ranked Auburn team the week after losing to the Cats.

Obviously, this is a different Georgia team. Matthew Stafford and friends are all grown up now, and while this year has not lived up to lofty preseason expectations, the Dawgs are still a very good team. Kentucky, on the other hand, has struggled a good bit since starting the season 4-0 and almost picking off Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Cats are bowl eligible, but they were thorougly embarrassed by Florida and needed late-game heroics to defeat bottom feeders Arkansas and Mississippi State. Kentucky's defense has played well, but myriad special teams gaffes and an offense that, after an injury to talented RB Dicky Lyons, has puttered to levels only known by the likes of Auburn, Tennessee, and Mississippi State have made things difficult for the group from the Bluegrass State. Kentucky may be able to use their excellent defensive front to keep UGA from scoring many points. Maybe they will even be able to force a turnover or two and take an early lead. However, I just do not think they will be able to score enough points to win this game, even if they play their best. I'm taking Georgia in this one.

Arkansas at South Carolina

More on this one soon.

Wyoming at Tennessee

While Tennessee has trouble moving the ball, Wyoming has one of the worst offenses in college football, even having trouble in scoring in the MWC. The Vols defense will likely manhandle the Cowboys' O. That said, this game could very well turn out like the Vols' contest against Northern Illinois or Mississippi State, when Tennessee was able to keep their opponent from scoring much but could not do much when they got the ball. However, athletically Wyoming just cannot hang with Tennessee, and even if the Vols' cannot move the ball, Nick Stephens at least seems to be able to protect it, so do not expect the Vols to give the game away. Tennessee may come out flat, but they will pull away late. I actually think they might run away with it; Tennessee's players love Phillip Fulmer, and even though they are not very good, they will fight to vindicate their coach.

UT-Martin at Auburn

Hopefully the Tigers can use this game to figure out something they can do on offense that will give them a chance against their rivals, Georgia and Alabama. If not, things might get rough for them, especially when Tommy Six Fingers heads into Bryant-Denney.

Alabama at LSU

Nick Saban and his top-ranked Tide return to Death Valley for the first time to take on LSU. While both teams are talented, the Tide are clear favorites here. They have a defense that is good enough not to let Jarret Lee, Charles Scott, and Co. push them around, and while the Tide's offense is nothing spectacular, LSU's defense is suspect, and John Parker Wilson and Julio Jones are capable of taking advantage of the weak Tigers' secondary.

That said, this will be an emotional game for all involved. That plays into the hands of Les Miles, who, whatever you want to say about him, is a master motivator and thrives off the emotional side of the game. Les knows that the Tigers faithful want this game badly, and he will do anything he has to do to win this.

The key here, I think, is how the first half goes. If Bama comes out and thrashes the Tigers like they did Georgia, LSU and their crowd may fold. However, if LSU comes out fired up and punches the Tide in the mouth, they may be able to ride the crowd to a close game. I expect the latter to happen, and I think Les will take a gamble that will pay off at the end of the game. LSU wins.

Florida at Vanderbilt

Vandy could technically stay in the SEC East race with a win against the Gators. However, at this point the Gators offense is playing so well that even an opportunistic defense like Vanderbilt's probably won't be able to slow them down much, and Vandy's struggling offense simply can't hang with Urban's bunch in a shootout. If Vandy plays their best and forces a couple of early turnovers they may be able to keep it somewhat close early, but Florida just has better athletes across the board and will likely blow this game wide open at some point. Gators win by 3+ TDs and maybe by much more.

Idle: Ole Miss and Mississippi State

You haven't had to go far this season -- just to a Kentucky-centric blog, really -- to find some of the Wildcat faithful boasting of how their team is primed this year to beat South Carolina. It's an understandable obsession; the last time they beat the Gamecocks, Bill Clinton was still in the White House and the United States was just a few months removed from winning the war in Kosovo. (Remember that?)

Since then, South Carolina has reeled off eight straight. And the Gamecocks hired Steve Spurrier, who hasn't lost to Kentucky in 15 games against the Wildcats.

Think about that for a minute: Last year, Vanderbilt beat South Carolina. And Kentucky didn't.

Not that they haven't caused coronary episodes for Gamecock fans. They lost 27-21 in 2003, and 12-7 a  year later when the hero was none other than Michael Rathe. (Remember him? No?) The 24-17 victory in Lexington two years ago was the result of a successful trick play by South Carolina and an unsuccessful one by Kentucky.

But gaps in talent and, more significantly this year, experience still exist between Kentucky and South Carolina (as they do between the Gamecocks and the top of the SEC East). That should be enough for the streak to go to nine games.

OFFENSE

O-line. Kentucky returns four starters to the entire offense, according to Steele, and three of them are on the line. The Wildcats allowed more sacks per game (2.92) than any other team in the SEC last year. They also threw it a lot more. It pans out to about 7.2 percent, which isn't setting the world on fire but also isn't bad. The running game was also pretty successful. ADVANTAGE: KENTUCKY

Quarterback. South Carolina spent the offseason trying to keep a potential third-string signal-caller out of jail. Kentucky spent the offseason trying to keep a potential starter out of jail. Well, a potential starter at the time -- not any more. Mike Hartline has attempted six passes in his college career. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

And they lose this guy -- Woodman, or Goodson, or something like that.

Running backs. Rafael Little, he of the 1,013 yards and 3 TDs last year, is gone. Tony Dixon will probably be the feature back this year, after rushing for 411 yards and 4 TDs last season. But look for a couple of other players, including Derrick Locke (521, 5) to also get some carries. Depth alone carries this one. ADVANTAGE: KENTUCKY

Wide receivers. When you lose a 1,041-yard, 13-TD wide receiver, you're probably in trouble. When you also lose a 741-yard, 9-TD wide reciever, you're definitely in trouble. Kentucky is definitely in trouble. Dicky Lyons is a nice player, but no other returning WR or TE had more than seven receptions last year. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

DEFENSE

Defensive line. Last year, Kentucky's rushing defense was 94th in the nation, allowing 191.1 yards per game. They averaged 1.9 sacks a game, tied for 73rd. The star of the unit is Jeremy Jarmon, who last year had 13.5 TFL, including 9 sacks. ADVANTAGE: KENTUCKY

Linebackers. The Wildcats return two starters, Johnny Williams and Braxton Kelley, but neither of them impress, at least on paper. The third linebacker, Micah Johnson, might actually be the best of the bunch. South Carolina, for its part, has one of the best lineback corps in the SEC. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

Secondary. Kentucky returns eight picks, as does South Carolina. Trevard Lindley and Paul Warford are solid players. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

SPECIAL TEAMS

Tim Masthay was a quality punter and kickoff specialist last year. Lones Seiber was lackluster on FGs. The Wildcats lose a lot of their kick and punt return yards. ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

COACHING

Rich Brooks is 0-3 against Spurrier. He has a worse record (19-18) over the last three seasons than Spurrier (21-16) and over his career. (Brooks isn't even .500 as a head coach.) ADVANTAGE: SOUTH CAROLINA

THE RESULT

Kentucky isn't going to be anybody's cupcake this year. They are a good team. But the losses on offense are just too much for a team that hasn't given us any reason in the past to believe that they can beat South Carolina. Another close win -- but a victory nonetheless. LIKELY WIN

THE REST OF THEIR SEASON

Good teams go 6-6 or maybe 7-5 in the SEC. That's probably about right for the Wildcats. They have five should-wins on the schedule: Norfolk State, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Arkansas and Vanderbilt. They've also got a good shot in games at Louisville and at Mississippi State, as well as outside shots at upsets against South Carolina and at Tennessee. 6-6

The coach who had led his team from the bottom of the SEC East to two straight winning season strode to the microphone and issued a bold declaration, despite losing several players crucial to his two successful season.

"I will not undersell this football team. I think we can win the (SEC) Championship."

You might think C&F is talking about Rich Brooks at the 2008 SEC Media Days. You would be wrong.

It was Lou Holtz. And the year was 2002.

South Carolina fans were as giddy as their coach. After all, the ageless wonder had led them to two winning seasons, and this season's team was arguably more talented, even with all those key players gone.

They went 5-7.

We're fantathtic. Now, let me thow you my newthpaper trick.

Now, do flash forward to Brooks' SEC Media Days session in 2008. Brooks was certainly optimistic, in his crotchety old man sort of way.

(Brooks faced a fair number of questions, by the way, about how long he intended to stay with the Wildcats. It's almost unseemly to ask a man about retirement so much unless he's drooling on himself. And then you know he's not going to answer the question anyway, because Bobby Bowden doesn't talk about that kind of stuff.)

"I think we became a viable team in the SEC East," said Brooks, as one reporter checked his pulse. "I believe we'll be a viable team again this year."

"One team has a run of being very, very good, and they might fall off. And by 'falling off,' that means they're not playing for the SEC Championship or national championship, they're just winning bowl games or playing in bowl games. It's great in my mind that now we're part of that conversation. We intend to stay there," he said, as another reporter handed him a MedAlert.

"I think that we've closed the gap on the talent level, which is the biggest siginificant difference in Kentucky football now versus four or five years ago," he said, as yet another reporter covered him with a blanket.

Kentucky has been a bottom-dweller for a long time before (and even for a few season after) Brooks arrived. No one saw the Wildcats doing as well as they did in 2006 or 2007. So it was probably no surprise to Brooks or his players that the assembled media once again chose the Wildcats to finish fifth in the SEC East.

"We're a lot of guys (who) have a lot of chips on our shoulders," said defensive end Jeremy Jarmon.

Dicky Lyons Jr. gave a typically amusing answer to the question.

"You're always going to have naysayers, people trying to put you down," he said. "For me, being a 5'11" white guy as a wide receiver, you're never expected to play in the SEC in the first place, so it's all bulletin board material for inspiration to prove people wrong."

But it will be difficult. QB Andre Woodson is gone. So are RB Rafael Little, WR Steve Johnson, WR Keenan Burton and TE Jacob Tamme.

C&F is not trying to slight Kentucky, or their fans, who are understandably excited about 2008. Much like their South Carolina counterparts of 2002, they see a team that gets better and reason that their lot in the league must improve. They perhaps don't see what eventually became clear to Gamecock fans a few years ago: That Florida is also getting better. So is Georgia. Tennessee? Eh, maybe.

Just a gentle reminder: It's not good enough to get better. You have to get better than everyone else.