A good day for a football fan doesn't always end at the stadium.

Take Saturday, for example. Tennessee fans left Neyland Stadium with a 27-10 victory against Ole Miss that, though hardly artistic, at least kept the Vols on the right track heading into next Saturday's game against Georgia.

But that was just a warm-up for UT fans. By late Saturday evening, they had even more to celebrate.

It wasn't just another football Saturday for UT fans. It was a day for reveling in the suffering of your nemeses.

Former Florida coach Steve Spurrier, aka nemesis No. 1, suffered a 48-7 loss to Auburn as South Carolina's first-year head coach. It was the second-worst loss of Spurrier's career -- second only to a 45-3 loss to UT in 1990.

Did you ever think you would see a Spurrier team down 31-0 at the half? His Washington Redskins never looked that bad.

The Florida Gators, which is UT nemesis No. 1-A, looked almost as inept as the Gators in a 31-3 loss to Alabama. That's the same Florida team that looked so tough and resourceful in a 16-7 victory over UT two weeks earlier. And that's the same Florida team that Gators defensive end Jeremy Mincey said might blow out the Tide.

He was right about the blowout. Wrong about whom would be blown out.

"We have not played well on offense all year," Florida coach Urban Meyer said on his Sunday morning teleconference. "We have not executed. We have not functioned as a unit.

"It's shocking. It's disappointing. We just need ... We need to solve some problems."

Even when the Gators were winning, Meyer had criticized almost every aspect of his offense, especially the line, which was overwhelmed by Alabama. But Florida's first-team defense had been solid through the first four games.

It caved in against the passing of Brodie Croyle and the running of Ken Darby. As Meyer put it in a post-game comment to the Gainesville Sun, "The passing game was alarming. Our man-to-man (defense) was exposed."

The exposure offered further insight into the race for the SEC East championship. If you play outstanding defense and your offense isn't careless, you can finish on top.

That's how Florida beat UT. The same Saturday, Georgia turnovers almost cost it a game against South Carolina.

Georgia's offense might look the best of the three SEC East contenders, but it has been dreadful inside opponents' 20-yard line. Moreover, it hasn't played a defense as good as UT's, Alabama's or even Florida's. And if it struggled against a defense as flawed as South Carolina's, what does that say for its chances against UT at Neyland Stadium on Saturday?

A month of football has taught us there's no sure thing in the SEC. East favorite UT and West favorite LSU already have lost conference games. So has Florida, the East's consensus No. 2 pick in preseason.

Never mind how dominant Alabama was against Florida. It also lost one of its best players, wide receiver Tyrone Prothro, to a likely season-ending injury. Already lacking in quality depth, the Tide must manage a second-half schedule that includes UT, LSU and Auburn.

After an opening-season loss to Georgia Tech, Auburn has looked as good as any team in the conference in winning four consecutive games by an average of 38 points. However, it has yet to beat a Division I-A team with a winning record and still has to play LSU, Georgia and Alabama.

You have three title contenders in each division. And the favorites could change from one week to the next.

Remember how bleak UT's championship hopes looked just a week ago? Having already lost to Florida, the Vols trailed LSU 21-0 at half.

But if UT wins against Georgia on Saturday and Florida loses at LSU the following week, the Vols would have the lead in the SEC East.