Georgia Southern (6-5): –

Central Michigan (8-3): CMU’s hopes for another MAC title came down to a single game on Wednesday, and they came up short. They led undefeated Ball State in the 4th quarter, but a pair of late touchdowns flipped the game, and a final drive ended on an interception. It was a thoroughly entertaining game, and it did well to illustrate that the best MAC teams have no business anywhere near the BCS. With the conference title out of the picture, the Chippewas can aim for 9-3 and hope for a bowl bid. THIS WEEK: Lost to Ball state (Wed.)

South Carolina (7-4): Even the strong South Carolina defense didn’t come to play in Gainesville. The ugly loss does take a bit off of what had been a nice turnaround, and they’ll have to win the in-state rivalry to avoid settling for just a winning season. THIS WEEK: BYE

Arizona State (4-6): It wasn’t quite the 60-point beating other teams put on Washington State, but the Sun Devils had few problems routing the Pac-10’s worst team. Even though their current two-game winning streak came against horrible teams, it’s still good to get back in the saddle. Now they have consecutive wins and a bye week to get their heads straight for season-ending games against UCLA and rival Arizona. They’ll need to win both to have a shot at the postseason. THIS WEEK: BYE

Alabama (11-0): After consecutive losses to Mississippi State, it had to spook some Alabama fans to be down again in the second quarter last week. Defense and special teams took care of that, but you expect a bit more from an offense that seems to have all of the pieces. No chance they overlook the Iron Bowl. THIS WEEK: BYE

Tennessee (3-7): There’s not much left to play for. The fans have moved on to the ongoing coaching search. All that’s left is avoiding the program’s worst season in history. Tennesse scraped by Vanderbilt and Kentucky last season, but the close games have been going against them this year. THIS WEEK: @ Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt (6-4): Congratulations to the bowl-eligible Commodores. They brushed off the Florida loss and won a road SEC game to get over the six-win hump. In fact, half their wins this year have come on the road, and the ability to win away from home is often the hallmark of a quality team. Even more impressive, the win at Kentucky assured Vandy of finishing in the top half of the SEC East. Vandy is certainly legitimate and interesting to watch, if only to see D.J. Moore. With the sixth win out of the way, the story becomes how far the team can go. Will Vandy fans for once outnumber Tennessee fans in Nashville? THIS WEEK: Tennessee

LSU (7-3): In 1994, the Kentucky basketball team pulled off "the greatest comeback in college basketball history" when they rallied from 31 points down in the second half to beat LSU. LSU was on the other side of an incredible comeback last week when they stormed back from a 31-3 second half deficit to beat Troy. Over / under on the number of LSU fans who will claim they stayed and supported the team through the end of the Troy game is 125,000 – roughly the same number who claim to have sat in the rain to watch the thrilling finish of Georgia’s 1996 win over Texas Tech. The question now is whether LSU was simply caught sleepwalking or if they are in trouble against teams like Ole Miss and Arkansas. THIS WEEK: Ole Miss

Florida (9-1): Georgia fans can find small comfort in the fact that the Dawgs at least hung with Florida until halftime. The Gators have just had to take the field to get Vandy and South Carolina to lay down. It’s going to be very, very ugly this week for the Citadel. Will Tebow play at all in the second half? THIS WEEK: Citadel

Kentucky (6-5): It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Wildcats. They found new life in quarterback Randall Cobb, but they’ve come up just short when given a chance to win games against Georgia and Vanderbilt. They have that critical sixth win already, but a loss against Tennessee in the season finale would leave them at 6-6 and a pretty unattractive bowl team. THIS WEEK: BYE

Auburn (5-6): The big question: where the heck was Mario Fannin at the end of the game? He didn’t just score Auburn’s two touchdowns earlier in the game; he also scored in Athens last year. Instead Tommy Tuberville chose to "split carries" and had the ineffective Ben Tate in the game. Tate was the target on the game’s final pass, but he couldn’t come up with it. There’s more going on with the Auburn offense than just the coordinator. THIS WEEK: BYE

Georgia Tech (7-3): The divisional and conference titles are still in play, but it’s amazing that a team can be one game away from either an outside shot at the title or finishing .500 in the conference. That’s where Tech is, and it will be decided tonight when they host Miami. Tech has had the Canes’ number lately, but this year’s Miami squad is rounding into form towards the end of the season. Expect to see some good defense on display. THIS WEEK: Miami (Thurs.)