SEC Pick of the Week: No. 14 LSU (-7) vs. No. 15 Auburn, 3:30pm ET CBS

A quick disclaimer: No, I have not given up on the Auburn Tigers despite their overtime victory against Jacksonville State last weekend. I still see them winning 9 or 10 games when it’s all said and done.

I am also very bullish on the prospects of LSU sophomore running back Leonard Fournette. The best running back in the SEC ran through the Mississippi State defense last week for over 150 yards and three touchdowns.

He will likely continue that pace against an Auburn defense that gave up 160 yards to Jacksonville State in that overtime victory. In their season opener against Louisville, the Auburn defense gave up 238 yards and three touchdowns on the ground in what was another seven-point victory.

Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp surely will have his work cut out for him this weekend. Of course, making things even more difficult is the fact that Joshua Holsey suffered a knee injury against Jacksonville State and is out for the season as a result. Auburn will now have to rely on three freshman in its defensive backfield.

To go along with the questions on defense, Auburn also has issues on offense. Quarterback Jeremy Johnson, who was hyped up to be the next big thing on the plains, has struggled mightily thus far. He’ll be making his first career road start and he’s already thrown five interceptions this year and is completing passes at a 60% clip.

That’s highly unlikely to get the job done in Death Valley. If Auburn has anything going for them, it’s the fact that the game won’t be played at night. The 3:30pm ET kickoff means that Auburn will miss out on any Death Valley magic.

The weirdness or Voodoo if you will, that routinely occurs at LSU football games has generally occurred at night, but every so often it’ll happen during the day. Just ask the Tennessee Volunteers about 2010.

Upset Alert: Florida (-3) at Kentucky, 7:30pm ET SEC Network

I’ll be the first to admit: there are plenty of joys, or perks if you will, to being a Florida Gators fan. One of the more interesting of the so called “perks” is the consecutive victory streak against the Kentucky Wildcats.

Throughout the years, the Gators and Wildcats have met on the football field a total of 65 times and last Wildcat victory occurred in 1986.

It’s the longest consecutive victory streak in the country. It has survived through Derek Abney, Tim Couch, Jared Lorenzen and even Ron Zook to name a few.

One of the cardinal rules of betting is never bet against a streak. Kentucky is probably due for a win. This is arguably their best shot in a long time.

Can Kentucky’s version of the “Air Raid” offense finally finish the job against the Gators? We shall see. 

Keep an eye on: No. 2 Alabama (-7) vs. No. 11 Ole Miss, 9:15pm ET ESPN

The Crimson Tide host the Rebels in what is the second-best SEC game this weekend. The Rebels head to Tuscaloosa fresh off of breaking the FBS record for points scored over the first two games of the season.

They’ve scored a combined 149 points in those games, the record of 143 points was held by Florida in the early years of Steve Spurrier.

It almost goes without saying, but it will be up to the Crimson Tide’s secondary to slow down Rebel quarterback Chad Kelly and company.

As for that offense…

Trending up: Ole Miss offense

The Rebels’ offense has set the record for the most points scored through the first two games of the season. Breaking the Florida Gators’ 1994 record of 143 points by just six points.

Of course, playing against UT-Martin and Fresno State will do wonders for a team’s confidence, scoring 76 and 73 points respectively.

However, Alabama is another elephant entirely.

Since 1907, when Sewanee put up 54 on the Crimson Tide, no team has scored more than 49 against Alabama. And that number belongs to Tennessee, in 2003 and it took five overtimes to get there.

Trending down: Arkansas

Holy, Toledo.

Arkansas, as we all know, was supposed to contend for the SEC West this year but they definitely aren’t playing like it.

The Razorbacks are correct in that it wasn’t all that bad because the loss occurred out of the conference, but they’re fooling themselves if they think it’s no big deal.

How many teams have gone on to great seasons after suffering an early loss to a MAC team? I’m not sure of the exact number, but I’d be willing to bet that it’s not that high.