October 17th in the SEC.

Another Saturday. Another post.

"Yeah, I don't know, Nick. I think a 30for30 about how I stole your shit might be something the people are into."

Auburn drowned Kentucky in the moonshine of its own reflection.

This game took place in Lexington earlier this week. Kentucky wore radiant silver helmets, as if football were a game played by Greek princes against Gorgon sisters. Football, however, is not a game played against mythic creatures. Instead, football is a game played by college athletes against other college athletes, and some colleges have better athletes than others. No shield from Athena can change that. The game featured a lot of big pass plays, and college athletes making athletic grabs. The game filled a highlight reel. And, in the end, Kentucky had a chance. But that’s the thing about Kentucky football—chances always end up in past tense. With 27 seconds left in the game the question, Ken-tucky do it, had an answer. A 2-1 start in the conference is now 2-2. Tigers are much more fierce than Wildcats.  

A matter of cannibalism: Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State.

When the Bulldogs play the Bulldogs, the Bulldogs will be victorious. When the Bulldogs are victorious, other Bulldogs will not be. However, once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog. We are all Bulldogs, until we’re no longer Bulldogs. We will always be Bulldogs. Go Bulldogs!

Ole Miss visits Memphis.

Um, somehow this game became interesting. In fact, the game will air on ABC. After all, these teams have only one loss between them. The mighty Tigers of Memphis are living a dream. The mighty Tigers of Memphis are 5-0, yet unranked. In some ways, like all things backwoods and southern, this matchup will feature lots of friends and neighbors and cousins facing off against one another. The whole affair will reek of incest. If the Rebels win, then all this intrigue will evaporate like rain on a hot highway. But, if the Tigers manage the upset, then the name of quarterback Paxton Lynch will fall on our ears like a torrent.

Alabama and Texas A&M collide once more.

Right away Texas A&M felt like an SEC school because of how it played against ‘Bama. Now A&M faces an opportunity to not only make a name for itself in the conference but to supplant the powers that be. They come into the game ranked higher and with a better record than Alabama. This game is about more than this season; this game is about the next half decade or so.

After all, before the Georgia game, many fans and analysts doubted the authenticity of this year’s Crimson Tide. Could they be an aberration on Saban’s year in and year out pursuit of perfection? Now, that doubt feels like eons ago; the press clippings of fossilized worlds no longer in existence. Yet such worlds feel remote no longer. Saban’s squad impersonated dominance in Sanford Stadium. With time, what once was plastic pretense can become a bedrock identity.

So, what happens if the Aggies prevail at home today? Saban and his team would then slouch back into the east down two games to the Aggies and trailing LSU as well. This notion of change is all rather interesting and, for now, possible.

When the sun sets on the Gators.

This game could happen twice.

First, the Gators have risen from the Muschamp ashtray with a fury. And, at 4-0 in the conference, the start is no longer a surprise. The fast start is not so much an uprising as the status quo of this football season. Georgia lost Nick Chubb. Tennessee limps along. South Carolina throws retirement parties. Mizzou’s roar is but a kazoo in the wilderness. And the Wildcats fainted at the sight of their own reflection. The Gators are it.

Then again, the Gators just suspended starting quarterback Will Grier for the season, brining Treon Harris back into the starting fold. An October night in Baton Rouge is probably not the place for such adjustments to be made. In some ways, the Gators voice seems ready to crack. While undefeated and appearing dominant the last two weeks, this team barely edged East Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The last time Harris attempted anything of note was in against the Pirates of ECU. Of course, quarterback play has not necessarily been the reason for the Gators’ renewed success. 

Oh, and the guys at LSU just flat out play.

Missouri scheduled to trim the hedges.

My dad emailed me earlier in the week: “Georgia’s season is down the tubes.” Welp, there you have it.

Bryan Harvey tweets @LawnChairBoys.