'Bama vs. Florida!! Hold on there is allot of Football Left to Play!

If no one at Florida and Alabama admits to thinking ahead to Dec. 6, well, that's what we media types are for. It'll be crazy in that dome if both sides can navigate to Atlanta without another loss for Florida and with Alabama unbeaten. Florida's game at Florida State feels tricky, even though the Gators are clearly superior. A nasty rivalry game on the road against a strong defense has many classic ingredients for an upset.

I'm not calling for the Noles to shake up the title chase just yet. I'm just saying...

Alabama's getting Auburn at home makes the upset chances much lower in the Tide's annual showdown -- even though the Tigers have gotten them six in a row. I know that Mississippi State has beaten Bama two in a row and that the Crimson Tide's offense has not crossed the goal line against the Bulldogs since 2004, but that has become a huge source of embarrassment and a big cause for the Tide this week. They will find the end zone this Saturday in Tuscaloosa. I promise. And more than once.

By the way, do you know how long it has been since a No. 1 team in the AP poll has lost a November home game to a team with a losing record? Well, before most of you were born. A year before I was born, in fact, and I am not feeling real young. In 1961, scrappy 2-4-1 TCU snuck into Austin and shocked the top-ranked Horns. And it has not happened since.

But when Florida and Alabama finally get to their SEC championship game rendezvous, the (likely) top-ranked Tide can again revert back to the "unrespected, underdog" mode. Despite the pollsters' support, the "experts" in Las Vegas would make Florida a solid favorite in a de facto national semifinal game. To be precise, Florida would be about an 8½ point favorite, according to the Wynn sports book.

Red-hot Gators focused on the task at hand