Adams: UT vs. Florida series a battle for 2nd place

The winner becomes the leading challenger to Georgia for the SEC East championship. The loser starts thinking about tiebreakers.

That's what the FloridaUT rivalry has become: a Georgia sidebar. If that sounds too harsh, let's just say the rivalry is in a transitional phase.

Where's it headed?

Ask me next year.

By then, the Vols and Gators could be back on top in the East. Both will return a wealth of talent, and Georgia will lose star players David Greene and David Pollack -- and maybe a couple of talented underclassmen as well -- to the NFL draft.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Although Tennessee-Florida has lost some of its national appeal, there's a heightened sense of urgency for the participants.

In the 1990s, the loser of this game could still contend for a national championship. Now, the loser is more apt to finish third in the East than No. 3 in the country.

UT 30, Florida 13: The Vols win back-to-back games against the Gators for the first time since 1970-71; UT's Phillip Fulmer joins Larry Coker, Bobby Bowden, David Cutcliffe, Lloyd Carr and Kirk Ferentz as the only coaches with a winning record against third-year head coach Ron Zook.

LSU 24, Auburn 23: They're due for a close game. The last six have been decided by 12 points or more.

Georgia 27, Marshall 17: The Thundering Herd is headed for its third consecutive tough loss. But don't be surprised if Georgia has to come from behind for the second week in a row.

Ole Miss 24, Vanderbilt 17: The Commodores have had two weeks to figure out what went wrong in their season opener against South Carolina. They only needed two minutes.

They got out-blocked and out-tackled. Again.

Alabama 45, Western Carolina 10: I realize the Tide is better than last season. How could it not be? It lost nine games.

But why do people keep saying: "Alabama could be 7-0 going into the Tennessee game?"

It also could be 4-3.

South Carolina 24, South Florida 13: Most teams would be devastated by a 20-16 loss to third-ranked Georgia after leading 16-0 in the first half. It shouldn't faze the Gamecocks.

They're used to losing games like that.

Mississippi State 38, Maine 10: The Bulldogs are determined to be different. They couldn't just hire some recycled good ol' boy. They had to go out and make history by hiring the first SEC black head football coach.

They're scheduling the same way. Instead, of getting a typical SEC whipping boy like Louisiana-Monroe, they ventured off the beaten path and recruited Maine for a nonconference victory.

Arkansas 48, Louisiana-Monroe 6: The Razorbacks are more of a traditionalist when it comes to scheduling. They know exactly what they're getting with Louisiana-Monroe, which they beat 52-6 in 2000 and 44-6 in 1999.

Indiana 23, Kentucky 20: Kentucky coach Rich Brooks isn't in denial. "We knew this wouldn't be easy," he said.

But I'm not sure if he meant winning games or getting season basketball tickets.

Top 25: USC 45, BYU 14; Oklahoma 48, Oregon 16; Miami 40, Louisiana Tech 13; West Virginia 30, Maryland 24; Florida State 31, UAB 23; North Carolina State 34, Ohio State 30; Virginia 54, Akron 13; Utah 38, Utah State 13; Arizona State 27, Iowa 23; Michigan 27, San Diego State 16; Fresno State 45, Portland 13; Wisconsin 23, Arizona 10; Minnesota 30, Colorado State 23; Boise State 54, UTEP 20; Louisville 45, Tulane 13; Memphis 41, Arkansas State 10.

Record: 40-4 (.909) overall, 25-19 (.567) against the spread.

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