LSU coach Les Miles might be the least appreciated coach in the SEC.

His first team beat Miami 40-3 in the Peach Bowl, went 11-2, and finished fifth in the final coaches' top25 poll. His second team is 6-2, ranks 13th nationally and has won its six games by an average of 40 points.

But some LSU fans talk as though Miles should be working a Ron Zook & Ed Orgeron coaching clinic.

There are a couple of reasons why those fans are as enthralled with Miles as they once were with Curley Hallman, who couldn't win 11 games in two seasons. One, Miles succeeded Nick Saban, who won a national championship three years ago; two, Miles has the charismatic appeal of Rod Dowhower (Vanderbilt's 14 fans will back me up on that).

Last year's LSU-Tennessee game didn't do much for Miles' reputation, either. Never mind the hows or whys of the outcome. Bottom line: LSU blew a 21-0 halftime lead in losing to a UT team that finished 5-6.

If you discuss the possibilities of another UT victory, Miles probably will come up in the conversation. So will LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell, whose Herculean right arm has an awful sense of directions in close games.

Tennessee 17, LSU 13: Quarterback Erik Ainge has a bad ankle, and UT's running game likely will develop a severe limp against LSU's No. 1ranked defense. But UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe will find a way to score just enough points.

Florida 38, Vanderbilt 14: A headline on the Gainesville Sun web site: "Is it Tebow time?"

Chris Leak must love that. He's the starting senior quarterback on an SEC-leading team that's still in contention for the national championship, but his freshman backup is making headlines.

Deep into his first college season, Tebow apparently is ready for a more expanded role in the offense (i.e., instead of just running over linebackers, he'll have a shot at running the entire offense when he subs for Leak).

Despite Florida's overall success, the offense clearly needs a boost. The Gators haven't scored in the 30s since their second game.

Alabama 30, Mississippi State 17: Nine games into the season, the Tide is still trying to fix its offense. But it doesn't have a Tebow to bring off the bench.

Neither does Mississippi State, which is averaging only 78.3 yards per game rushing and ranks 11th in the SEC in scoring and total offense.

The rallying cry for both offenses should be, "Wait till next year." They have only four senior offensive starters between them.

Georgia 30, Kentucky 20: The Wildcats' defense benefited from spending last Saturday with Mississippi State's offense. Thanks to that, it advanced from 119th to 118th nationally in total defense.

Improvement aside, it's just the kind of defense that Georgia freshman quarterback Matthew Stafford needs to bolster his confidence. He has thrown nine interceptions and only three touchdown passes.

South Carolina 24, Arkansas 23: South Carolina quarterback Syvelle Newton was knocked so silly by Tennessee that he went to the line of scrimmage without calling a play.

No play? No problem. Newton still threw a touchdown pass to Mike West.

A clearheaded Newton will leave the Razorbacks dizzy.

Auburn 42, Arkansas State 10: Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville should be in the mood for seafood after today. He began his college coaching career as an assistant at Arkansas State, where things went so well that he left coaching five years later to open a catfish restaurant.

Unfortunately for the University of Alabama, Tuberville quickly returned to coaching.

Ole Miss 48, Northwestern State 14: Despite Yankee reports to the contrary, Mississippi has become the least offensive state in the country.

Southern Mississippi ranks 92nd among 119 Division I-A teams in total offense. Mississippi State ranks 105.

Ole Miss is 113th but could move into double figures after today. Northwestern State has lost its two games against Division I-A opponents by an average score of 48-14.

Top 25: Ohio State 45, Illinois 10; Michigan 38, Ball State 7; Texas 38, Oklahoma State 24, USC 38, Stanford 7; Wisconsin 24, Penn State 14; Boston College 27, Wake Forest 20; Oklahoma 24, Texas A&M 20; Clemson 31, Maryland 24; Georgia Tech 23, N.C. State 20; Virginia Tech 27, Miami 23; Oregon 34, Washington 23; Washington State 24, Arizona 10.

Record: 172-21 (.891) overall, 86-88 (.495) against the spread.