Vanderbilt won, and grown men wept.

That’s not just a trite, lazy lead to a column. That’s a fact, according to Vanderbilt senior defensive end Chris Booker.

"All year long, people have come up to me and said, ‘Thank you (for beating Tennessee),’ " Booker said. "One man said, ‘Me and my wife just sat there and cried after the game.’ "

Who says Vanderbilt fans aren’t passionate about their football team? They prove it every 23 years or so.

I don’t mean to make light of Vanderbilt’s win of the millennium. In fact, it has becoming increasingly difficult to make fun of the Commodores about anything. They have won nine games in the last two years and been competitive against some of the best teams in the SEC.

Never mind all the talk about parity in college football. Vanderbilt’s higher academic standards put it at a disadvantage against every other team in the SEC, yet it has beaten UT and Georgia, and almost beaten Florida and Alabama in the last two years.

In the same two years, UT has beaten Georgia and Alabama, and almost beaten Florida and Vanderbilt.

Tennessee 34, Vanderbilt 23: After going 23 years between victories against UT, you can’t expect the Commodores to win back-to-back. But if they can avoid turnovers and not self-destruct on special teams — as their track record suggests they will — they could extend the suspense into the fourth quarter.

Alabama 23, Auburn 20: In predicting the outcomes of college football games, it’s sometimes important to ignore logic. This is one of those times.

Auburn has better players, better coaches and a better program. But after four consecutive losses in the nation’s fiercest rivalry — take that, Ohio State-Michigan — Alabama is due to get lucky.

Auburn, which overachieved in beating LSU and Florida, seems to be running out of steam. Alabama can salvage a state championship in an otherwise disappointing season.

LSU 42, Ole Miss 10: Speaking of great rivalries, fire up the old time machine and zoom back to the late 1950s when this game settled national championships.

What was once the game of the year in the SEC is nothing more than a (Reader alert: Activate your sarcasm detector immediately) chess match between LSU coach Les Miles, who isn’t playing with all his pawns, and Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron, who is about two bishops shy of a load.

Arkansas 27, Mississippi State 24: The Razorbacks looked like the best team in the SEC in routing UT last week but don’t expect more of the same against the Bulldogs for a couple of reasons: Arkansas is due for a letdown, and Mississippi State has a better run defense than UT.

Also, check out the history of the Razorbacks in Starkville, Miss. Since the league went to divisional play, Arkansas is 4-3 at Mississippi State and has never won by more than seven points at Starkville. Two of the games were decided in overtime.

Florida 41, Western Carolina 10: Coach Urban Meyer came to Florida with the reputation as an offensive guru. Guru this: The Gators have gone eight consecutive games without scoring in the 30s.

That didn’t even happen on Ron Zook’s watch. In fact, that hasn’t happened since 1988.

Scoring in the 30s will be easy against Western Carolina. Scoring points with the BCS won’t be.

Kentucky 45, Louisiana-Monroe 17: Some schools just change coaches. ULM changes names.

It was Northeast Louisiana University before it became Louisiana-Monroe. Then, in its quest for political correctness, it changed its mascot name from Indians to Warhawks. But in the SEC, they’re affectionately known as the Lovebirds.

In their last 11 games against SEC opponents, the Lovebirds have lost by an average of 47-9.

South Carolina 31, MTSU 13: Who’s next on South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier’s hit list?

After one loss, he called out his secondary coach. After another, he called his players "losers." Last week, he questioned the decision-making of SEC officials.

The way he is acting, you would think the Gamecocks had lost three consecutive games against nationally ranked teams by a total of 14 points.

Top 25: Ohio State 27, Michigan 17; Southern Cal 27, Cal 24; Rutgers 21, Cincinnati 17; Boston College 27, Maryland 24; Louisville 37, South Florida 20; Boise State 52, Utah State 13; Notre Dame 41, Army 13; Wisconsin 45, Buffalo 7; Oklahoma 42, Baylor 17; BYU 38, New Mexico 10; Georgia Tech 38, Duke 10; Virginia Tech 24, Wake Forest 20.

Record: 200-34 (.855) overall, 106-110 (.491) against the spread.

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