Georgia Southern (3-3) —

Central Michigan (4-2): CMU got by Temple and remain undefeated against opponents outside of BCS conferences. Now they get a Toledo team that won at Michigan last week. The Chippewas are winning, but their offense isn’t really lighting people up anymore. THIS WEEK: @ Toledo

South Carolina (5-2): Don’t look now, but the Gamecocks are 5-2. Losses to Georgia and Vandy had them reeling a bit in September, but a pair of nice SEC road wins have contributed to a four-game winning streak. The quarterback shuffle continues; now it’s Stephen Garcia’s turn to start under center. A primetime home game against LSU is their opportunity to get back into the SEC picture. THIS WEEK: LSU

Arizona State (2-4): The good news is that the toughest part of the schedule is past, but the bad news is the damage it did to the program. The Sun Devils haven’t won since the second week of the season. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that two of the four losses were out of conference, so they can still make some noise in the Pac-10. They have a bye week to rest up, regroup, and try to salvage the season. Will two weeks be enough time to heal Rudy Carpenter’s ankle? THIS WEEK: BYE

Alabama (6-0): The bye week has come and gone for Alabama, and they got a chance to enjoy the unique experience of being jumped over for the #1 ranking. No worries, though. As the second half of the season begins, Alabama has to keep from being publicly giddy about how the remaining schedule has opened up for them. Traditional rivals Tennessee and Auburn are reeling. The only challenger for SEC West superiority, LSU, showed more than a little vulnerability last week. College football has a harsh way of making questions like this seem silly, but is LSU the only team left with a shot of derailing Bama in the regular season? THIS WEEK: Ole Miss

Tennessee (2-4): You know, Nick Stephens isn’t that bad, but the bread-and-butter of Tennessee football has been and should be the run. It’s amazing to me that quality backs like Foster and Hardesty can’t get much behind a veteran offensive line. Stars on defense like Ayers and Berry aren’t enough to cover for a weaker-than-usual supporting cast. Watching Georgia drive for ten minutes behind a piecemeal offensive line to seal last week’s game went against everything you thought you knew about Tennessee football. There’s no looking ahead to Alabama – the Vols are still looking for an SEC win, and MSU will do everything they can to make it close and ugly as usual. THIS WEEK: Mississippi State

Vanderbilt (5-1): The perfect start to the season is over, and now Vandy has to be looking at the schedule wondering where win #6 will come from. There’s a "new" quarterback who has posted points against the Dawgs, but Vandy’s lack of production on offense go deeper than the QB. It also isn’t a good sign that the SEC’s #10 rushing defense has to go up against Knowshon Moreno. Two years ago turnovers turned a comfortable Georgia halftime lead into a shocking upset. Can Vandy count on that happening again? THIS WEEK: @ Georgia

LSU (4-1): We can empathize with LSU. Two weeks ago, Georgia was the team who had to convince everyone that they weren’t as bad as their last game showed. Now it’s LSU’s turn, and not many teams will have the speed to shred LSU the way Florida did. They’ll have a tough job of getting back off the mat on the road against a South Carolina team regaining a bit of confidence. If LSU can’t move the ball against a tough Gamecock defense, this could be a close low-scoring game. THIS WEEK: @ South Carolina

Florida (5-1): Wow. It’s almost as if the Ole Miss game never happened. The Gators put it all together against LSU, and the results were impressive. Now they get the bye week to feel good about themselves, but the challenge will be sustaining that level of play through the bye and on into next week’s Kentucky game. As impressive as the offense was, let’s not overlook that Florida is #2 in the SEC in scoring defense at the midway point. I don’t know if that’ll hold up, but it’s hard not to give them their due. THIS WEEK: BYE

Kentucky (4-2): Last week everyone was patting Kentucky on the head for a nice effort in a loss at Alabama. That’s not the case this week. The Cats had every chance to put South Carolina away in the first half and couldn’t. It turned into a sloppy, unnecessary loss, and it – for now – flipped the fortunes of those two programs. Now the Cats have to deal with an Arkansas program feeling pretty good about themselves, and Kentucky will also have to play the rest of the season without playmaker Dicky Lyons Jr. THIS WEEK: South Carolina

Auburn (4-3): Tommy Tuberville got asked this question this week (h/t EDSBS): "What’s it been like for you guys being kind of passed by Alabama as the top team in the state?" Again, just because of questions like that, nothing would be funnier than to see Auburn find a way to extend the streak this year, especially if Bama comes in 11-0. THIS WEEK: BYE

Georgia Tech (5-1): Although they’re not beating the likes of Hawaii, I guess it’s a credit to Tech that they keep winning, and a lot of their remaining games seem, well, winnable. Carolina’s star is out for the year. FSU and Miami are average, and if Tech can prove to be above average, I guess that’s saying something relative to expectations for this year. Now Tech gets Clemson in the first post-Bowden game, and who knows what to expect? THIS WEEK: @ what’s left of Clemson