FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- If you're a nationally ranked football team, I highly recommend you avoid the following: Arkansas in November and Tennessee on your home field.

Arkansas often plays its best football against nationally ranked teams in November. UT recently has played its best football against nationally ranked teams on the road.

Translation: Both top-25 teams have reason to be optimistic about tonight's game at Razorback Stadium.

In coach Houston Nutt's first season at Arkansas, UT found out how tough the Hogs could be in November. The Vols' national championship team was pushed to the brink before rallying in the final minutes for a 28-24 victory.

One November later, Arkansas upset the third-ranked Vols 28-24.

Arkansas has won five of its last eight games against top-25 teams in November. And last year's 4-7 Razorbacks came close to upsetting third-ranked LSU, which pulled out a 19-17 victory at Tiger Stadium.

UT should be confident playing any top-25 team on the road.

As bad as the 5-6 Vols were last year, they still rallied from a 21-0 deficit to knock off LSU in Tiger Stadium. In 2004, they beat third-ranked Georgia in Athens. The year before, they won road games against nationally ranked Florida and Miami.

The 2006 Vols also have proved themselves on the road, where they are 3-0 and have outscored their opponents by an average of 19.7 points. They already have beaten Georgia and South Carolina in nationally televised night games on the road.

UT 31, Arkansas 30: The Vols should be worried about containing Arkansas' SEC-leading rushing offense. But the Razorbacks should be just as concerned about containing UT's SEC-leading passing offense.

UT backup quarterback Jonathan Crompton showed his mettle last week against LSU's No. 1-ranked defense. He should look even better against an Arkansas defense that will miss injured free safety Michael Grant.

Florida 27, South Carolina 20: Coach Steve Spurrier not only has improved South Carolina's record in his two years on the job. He has done wonders for their popularity with the networks.

CBS couldn't resist an opportunity to show Spurrier's return to his alma mater, where he won the Heisman Trophy and later built the SEC's dominant program in the 1990s.

The Gators need more than a victory against their alum. They also need him to leave a few offensive tips.

For all of Florida's offensive talent, it has scored 117 points in the last five games. South Carolina has scored 116.

Auburn 27, Georgia 13: The Bulldogs continue to dazzle SEC fans with their striking impersonation of the 2005 UT team, which went from nationally ranked to 5-6.

The Bulldogs have had erratic play at quarterback. Their receivers have dropped almost as many passes as they have caught. And they have lost to Vanderbilt.

Remind you of anybody in orange and white?

The Bulldogs can complete their brilliant impersonation by losing to Auburn and Georgia Tech and matching UT's six-loss season.

Vanderbilt 27, Kentucky 24: The Commodores and Wildcats suddenly have something in common aside from their annual battle for last place in the SEC East. Both have beaten Georgia. Both still have a chance to qualify for a bowl.

And both have hot quarterbacks.

Vanderbilt's Chris Nickson has completed 41 of 68 passes for 548 yards and four touchdowns in the last two games. Kentucky's AndrA(C) Woodson ranks third in the conference in passing yardage (2,125) and has thrown for 20 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

LSU 34, Alabama 10: After an embarrassing loss to Mississippi State, you would expect the Tide to bounce back with a great game against LSU. And you would be wrong.

But don't take my word for it. Check the stats.

LSU leads the SEC in (take a deep breath) scoring offense, scoring defense, pass defense, total offense, total defense, pass efficiency, pass efficiency defense, first downs, fewest first downs allowed, sacks, red-zone defense, third-down conversions, fewest third-down conversions allowed and extra points.

Top 25: Ohio State 41, Northwestern 10; Michigan 41, Indiana 10; Texas 42, Kansas State 13; Southern Cal 37, Oregon 17; Cal 27, Arizona 13; Notre Dame 41, Air Force 23; West Virginia 34, Cincinnati 17; Boise State 42, San Jose State 24; Wisconsin 27, Iowa 23; Oklahoma 30, Texas Tech 23; Florida State 27, Wake Forest 24; Georgia Tech 34, North Carolina 20; Virginia Tech 38, Kent State 10; Boston College 41, Duke 10; Maryland 27, Miami 24; Nebraska 24, Texas A&M 23.

Record: 186-29 (.869) overall, 96-99 (.482) against the spread.