Last week was a pretty good week in regard to our strength of schedule and BCS busters. Kentucky had a pretty good win in a shootout over Louisville, Georgia won a high scoring affair over Arkansas, and FSU destroyed BYU on the road. The FSU win was doubly good as not only did it help our strength of schedule, but it also burst the bubble of one of the major BCS busters in BYU. Utah also had it's bubble burst with a road loss at Oregon. Auburn took care of West Virginia in an SEC v Big East tussle, boosting the conference's SOS. In the big shocker of the weekend, USC lost on the road at Washington. This is great for the Gators as they won't have to worry about an undefeated USC team that gets love from the media. Unfortunately, texas took care of Texas Tech at home.

 

This week we the Kentucky Wildcats. Obviously, we'd like to see them lose. As always, we should be rooting for everyone on our schedule to win this week. The reason for this is because it invariably affects our strength of schedule, which is calculated as part of the computer rankings. It also puts an inkling in voters minds that the Gators may have a quality win over a team that beat so-and-so.

 

South Carolina over Ole Miss

Troy over Arkansas State

Tennessee over Ohio

Georgia over Arizona State

Alabama over Arkansas

LSU over Mississippi State

Vanderbilt over Rice

FIU over Toledo

Florida State over South Florida

 

If we're strictly talking about Gator football, we should be rooting for each of these teams on our schedule.

 

I think last night's upset win for South Carolina over Ole Miss will be a good thing for us, firstly because they are on our schedule and Ole Miss is not, but secondly, and more importantly, I didn't think Ole Miss had the talent to take the SEC West over Alabama. Therefore it's pointless to root for them because we want the best West opponent possible in the SECCG.

 

I think we should be rooting heavily for two games in particular: Georgia over Arizona State and FSU over USF. georgia's is a non-conference SEC vs Pac 10 match and would help the conference SOS. FSU's win over an undefeated USF squad would be a good win, as I see them doing quite well in a weak Big East.

 

The last game I'll mention is Alabama over Arkansas. We play are gauranteed to play Arkansas this year, and they could be a ''quality win'' if they continue to play well. But I think Alabama is the clear favorite to win the West now, and a marquee matchup in the SECCG is crucial for our computer rankings. So let's root that Alabama wins this game, and the rest of them going forward.

 

Auburn over Ball State

 

There are no real big SEC games for teams that don't play us. Root for Auburn, although I don't think they'll need it.

 

Clemson over TCU

Bowling Green over Boise State

Texas Tech over Houston

Fresno State over Cincinnati

Oregon over California

Iowa over Penn State

Miami over Virginia Tech

 

I think last week could be deemed Bubble Buster week as both Utah AND BYU lost. Now, there are still some non-BCS teams that have a shot at going undefeated and possibly steal BCS games from the SEC. Therefore, let's root for Clemson over TCU, Bowling Green over Boise State, and Texas Tech over Houston. We may get two of those in our favor, but I don't see Boise losing this week.

 

As for other BCS conferences, it's good to see the mighty fall. Therefore let's root for undefeateds Cincinnati, California, and Penn State to tank this week. Looking at the Miami vs Va Tech matchup, Miami has played one of our opponents (FSU) and Va Tech has played a possible opponent (Alabama). As of right now, Gator fans should root for Miami, but that could change in future weeks.