Have to be quick with the headlines today, folks.  Apologies.

SEC WEST

1.  At 1-6, Auburn is getting younger and younger in the starting lineup.

2.  Gene Chizik’s ex-assistants — once thought to be part of the problem — are doing alright elsewhere.

3.  Understatement: In the history of Alabama-Tennessee rivalry, last Saturday’s game won’t do down as one of the best.

4.  Arkansas hopes a strong finish can lead to a “good bowl.”

5.  The LSU Tigers have time off to fix what’s been ailing them.

6.  Dan Mullen says his Mississippi State players are right where they wanted to be: undefeated and facing Alabama.

7.  Ole Miss is focused on Arkansas, recruiting right now.

8.  Texas A&M’s loss to Top 10 LSU was “discouraging.” 

SEC EAST

9.  Will Muschamp knows the Florida-Georgia rivalry from both sides… and that a win on Saturday would clinch the East Division title.  (And perhaps SEC Coach of the Year honors.)

10.  Will Georgia’s Jarvis and Abry Jones be ready to go against the Gators?

11.  Joker Phillips says if Kentucky freshman quarterback Patrick Towles can practice, he’ll play Saturday against Missouri.

12.  This writer gives South Carolina’s quarterbacks an “F” grade for their Florida performance.

13.  Derek Dooley on Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray turning the ball over: “If he’s loose with the football, he’s coming out of the game.”

14.  Vanderbilt’s defense preserved last Saturday’s win over Auburn with late-game stands.

15.  The attention is shifting to basketball season in the Show-Me-State.

16.  Mizzou football updated depth chart lists QB James Franklin as doubtful.

SEC/COLLEGE NEWS

17.  The SEC has named its Players of the Week.

18.  Alabama and Florida are still 1-2 in the new BCS rankings.

UPDATE — Mike Slive says networks aren’t insisting on nine-game conference schedule — we hadn’t heard that they were being insistent — but he also says the league will “keep an open mind” about such a set-up.

Linebacker Josh Harvey-Clemons from Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Ga., is still pondering his college decision.

It looked to be a Florida-Georgia battle until last weekend when Harvey-Clemons took a visit to Florida State. The Seminoles became team No. 3 on his list when he returned home from the trip.

Could Florida State now be the favorite to land Harvey-Clemons? Maybe so. At least, that’s what Michael Carvell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution indicated on Wednesday night.

“I’m hearing (yikes) #FSU is school to beat now,” Carvell wrote on twitter. “Never saw that coming.”

Former Georgia quarterback Buck Belue sees Harvey-Clemons headed to Florida. Belue, who hosts a talk show on 680 The Fan in Atlanta, also made it clear via twitter that Harvey-Clemons could change his mind.

Kipp Adams of ESPN.com chimed in while answering questions on a recruiting mailbag. His belief is that Harvey-Clemons would sign with Georgia if signing day were today. Of course, it isn’t and much could change in the next week. Adams accurately pointed that out in the mailbag.

The moral of this post? Harvey-Clemons doesn’t appear to have a decision. And if he does, he’s done a great job of making people guess what it is.

1.  SI.com’s Seth Davis says John Calipari is worth every penny of his new $36.5 million deal.

2.  The 22nd best SEC game of the year will be Georgia versus Georgia Tech.

3.  Here’s a preview of this year’s Florida-Georgia game.

4.  Suspended basketball players Cody Larson and Erik Murphy are enrolled in summer school at UF.

5.  For you SEC baseball fans out there, South Carolina beat Florida 2-1 last night to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three national championship series.

In the days leading up to Saturday's annual Florida-Georgia game, Gators senior punter/kicker Chas Henry walked around practice chanting "redemption week, redemption week'' to anyone within earshot.
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Content provided by Swamp Things – Gators Blog.

This Sentinel cartoon is from the 2002 matchup but seems appropriate this year. The line late Friday night favored the Bulldogs, winners of their last three, slightly.

Take a sampling of any of the Florida’s opponents in the past six seasons, and you’d probably end up with a similar record. Lots of wins and not a lot of losses.

After all, coach Urban Meyer has lost 13 games in more than five seasons in Gainesville.

And although the Gators (4-3, 2-3 SEC) are having a very un-Florida like season this year, there is one record that will matter the most when they face Georgia at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville on Saturday – 16-1.

That’s Florida’s record against its traditional rivals – Tennessee, Georgia, Miami and Florida State – since Meyer arrived.

The Gators, and their fans, surely remember the one loss – a 42-30 defeat to the Bulldogs in 2007.

Seeking to get his players fired up, Georgia coach Mark Richt had his players storm the field after the first touchdown.

It worked. Despite the excessive celebration penalty the  Bulldogs took, they made their point.

The Gators were reminded of that play this week.

“When we lost to them the first time, it was embarrassing,” said senior center Mike Pouncey. “We take this game very seriously.

“We don’t really need no motivation to go play Georgia.”

No, they don’t, but the Gators will have plenty in this one.

Meyer said he showed the players the SEC Eastern Division standings during the bye week. He showed them they were still in the hunt for Atlanta, that their goal of returning to the SEC championship game was still attainable. Meyer said he hasn’t show the Gators the standings – which leave Florida in control of its own fate if it can beat the Bulldogs then win at Vanderbilt and at home against South Carolina- this week. They have plenty of other things to focus on.

But Meyer knows what this game means.

“It’s the whole world, man. First of all, it’s Florida-Georgia,” he said. “It’s been like this before in this conference, the first year for sure. It was like, ‘What is going on?’ Teams just keep beating each other.”

Plenty rides on this game – the rivalry record, SEC hopes and arguably the Gators season. Criticism of the offense, questions about Meyer’s health and intensity, demands that players be benched and coaches be fired, they all go away – at least temporarily – with a win.

Florida has won 17 times in the past 20 years of this rivalry. An 18th win, and improving the Gators’ rivalry record to 17-1 under Meyer, might be the most important.

And, since the Florida players have been watching this highlight this week for motivation, here’s a reminder of that one loss for you.

Even for a rivalry as old and tradition-rich as the annual Florida-Georgia clash here on the banks of the St. Johns River, Saturday's game offers some twists and turns that make for an interesting afternoon at EverBank Field.
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