Adams: S.C. foibles: anticipation celebrations

He questioned my mental prowess for a throwaway line I used in predicting a Georgia victory over South Carolina. Here's the good part: The Gamecocks were leading 16-0 when he made the call.

You know the rest of the story. Georgia rallied to win 20-16 and South Carolina was left to lament another close loss. What a surprise, huh?

But the caller might be on to something. Isn't a premature celebration better than none at all?

If the Gamecocks take the lead at any point this afternoon, their fans should flee the stadium and spend the rest of the day celebrating their good fortune. Wouldn't that be more fun than waiting around for the inevitable outcome?

UT 17, South Carolina 16: South Carolina will play with great intensity. South Carolina coach Lou Holtz will come up with a trick or two to remind you what a great coach he once was. And South Carolina fans with the memory capacity of a gnat will at some point in the game actually think they're going to win.

You've heard it all before.

South Carolina almost beat the Vols last year. It almost beat them the year before that. And the year before that. And the year ... Well, you get the idea.

South Carolina will come close this afternoon. And UT will come away with a victory, which will virtually assure it of the SEC East championship.

Georgia 24, Florida 20: The Gators apparently are all fired up because coach Ron Zook was fired. Just in the nick of time, huh?

They have lost three close games, played themselves out of the SEC East race and suffered one of the most-embarrassing losses in school history (last week to Mississippi State) and now they're fired up?

More than Zook's coaching career took a hit last week. Would you want Charlie Strong as your head coach based on what he has done as a Florida defensive coordinator?

Florida's defense has gone downhill under Strong, who is often mentioned as a potential head-coaching candidate. He had more potential before this season.

Auburn 34, Ole Miss 10: The Rebels have the Grove, but the Tigers have Quentin Groves, who had three sacks and forced two fumbles against Kentucky. Not bad for a second-teamer.

My point: Auburn's depth will be more of a factor than Ole Miss' home-field advantage.

The Rebels are 2-2 at home. Auburn has won its two road games by an average of 28.5 points.

Mississippi State 20, Kentucky 17: Is Rich Brooks next on the Bulldogs' coaching hit list?

Zook was fired two days after he lost to Mississippi State, which had lost 18 of its previous 19 SEC games. Brooks is already on shaky ground after the Wildcats' 1-6 start, followed by a 4-8 record in his first season. Worse yet, he got the dreaded "vote of confidence" from his administration this week.

It's no time to lose to the Bulldogs, whose improvement might soon have them lobbying for a rematch with Maine.

LSU 34, Vanderbilt 7: It's time for the on-again, off-again Tigers to be on again.

LSU played poorly in beating Oregon State in overtime, then routed Arkansas State 53-3. After losing to Auburn, it beat Mississippi State 51-0.

The next week, it was hammered by Georgia 45-16. It bounced back to beat Florida before almost losing to Troy last week.

Top 25: Southern California 34, Washington State 17; Oklahoma 38, Oklahoma State 23; Miami 48, North Carolina 23; Florida State 24, Maryland 13; California 37, Arizona State 27; Utah 38, San Diego State 14; Texas 41, Colorado 14; Michigan 31, Michigan State 24; West Virginia 27, Rutgers 17; Purdue 34, Northwestern 22; Texas A&M 38, Baylor 14; Boise State 54, Hawaii 27; Iowa 27, Illinois 16; Minnesota 37, Indiana 14.

Record: 138-23 (.859) overall, 89-72 (.553) against the spread.

John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.