Every conference has a reputation.
The Pacific-10 is a soft, offense-happy league.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is the Southeastern Conference minus the talent and coaching.
The Big Ten is overrated.
The Big East is underrated.
And the SEC generally produces the best teams year-in and year-out.
I still believe the SEC is the best conference in the country, but two trends have become apparent so far in league play.
Winning on the road is harder than ever, and teams seem to be suffering letdowns after draining victories.
Both of these points come into play as the Gators travel to Kentucky this weekend.
It will be the third time UF has hit the road this season.
In their other two road trips - a too-close-for-comfort win at Mississippi and a giveaway loss at LSU - the young Gators looked jetlagged at key moments.
Meanwhile, Kentucky has beaten two top-ten teams at home in then-No. 9 Louisville and LSU. .
Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks beat the Wildcats by two touchdowns in South Carolina for their only loss.
So Kentucky has a huge advantage, bigger than the usual home-field boost, in getting to host this game at Commonwealth Stadium.
But UF has an intangible edge of its own.
Teams across the league seem unable to capitalize on momentum from big wins.
It happened to LSU on Saturday, a week after topping UF.
The Gators are not immune either.
They escaped Mississippi one week after dominating Tennessee in The Swamp.
Kentucky could easily catch the virus this week.
While Kentucky scratched and clawed for every yard, tackle and point on Saturday, UF sat back, watched and scouted.
While the Wildcats readied to play the best defense in the country and a two-headed quarterback monster, Gators coaches and players took a recess and played a four-on-four game.
UF had the luxury of a bye week in between LSU and Kentucky.
The Wildcats have played seven games in seven weeks.
In the seventh game, it took Kentucky three overtimes and more than four hours to beat the top-ranked Tigers. The win did not come without casualties.
It looks like Coach Rich Brooks will be without starting running back Rafael Little for another week.
Second-string runner Tony Dixon and quarterback Andre' Woodson also got hurt against LSU, but both should start Saturday.
Still, they must get over their cuts and bruises in addition to preparing for the Gators, whom they have lost 20 straight games to.
Something has got to give.
Can the Gators get over their road woes?
That all depends on how much UF's young players grew up in the two weeks between games.
A third loss all but eliminates the Gators from SEC title contention, so they will be playing with a hint of desperation.
Can the Wildcats summon the same strength they had on Saturday?
That's an even bigger question.
Woodson will likely provide the answer in a game that could turn into a scorefest.
If he is the Heisman contender so many are making him out to be, he ought to be able to string together two solid games in a row.
Usually that's not such a tough assignment.
But then again, we're talking about the SEC.
