My, how time has flown by.
And the final specks of sand in the Gators? season hourglass could fall on Saturday.
It?s more desperate than do-or-die for UF at South Carolina.
It?s do-and-get-some-help-or-die.
A loss, and the final two home games mean nothing.
The Gators play Florida Atlantic next week.
Florida Atlantic - try getting up for that if your SEC hopes are dashed.
Then comes the annual tilt with Florida State.
The only thing that game will determine is whether the Seminoles head to Nashville or San Francisco for their B-rate bowl.
So it all comes down to Saturday.
Get your Golden Flake potato chips and your RC Cola and settle into the butt groove on your recliner, because it?s going to be a long and exciting day.
Before UF and South Carolina get started at 7:45 p.m., any true Gators fan would have already sat through 7 hours of college football.
The Gators need Tennessee and Georgia to lose one conference game apiece to have any shot at getting to Atlanta for the SEC title game.
Tennessee hosts Arkansas at 12:30 p.m. on Lincoln Financial.
Then, after Darren McFadden stomps over Rocky Top, Georgia will host Auburn at 3:30 on CBS.
Just as you loosen that belt buckle another notch, it?s time for the game of games, UF versus South Carolina, which has become less of a Steve Spurrier sideshow and more of an SEC standings mixer in recent years.
By 11:30, half a day after you zapped on the Tennessee pregame show, the Gators will likely be back in the thick of the race or pretty much out of it.
I could tell you my prediction, or you could just squint at the bottom of the alligatorSports Brand Picks Column and then send me hate mail.
Is there a better way to spend a Saturday in November?
Well, I?d rather be watching Illinois-Ohio State, but three straight SEC thrillers isn?t half bad.
Not only does this game have major program implications, but it will play a significant role in the way certain players are judged.
Can Tim Tebow stay in the Heisman Trophy race?
Right now, you can?t say Tebow is the frontrunner.
Even though he looked good against Vanderbilt, Dennis Dixon and Darren McFadden looked better, much better, in bigger wins.
Tebow needs a win, as well as some style points, to keep pace.
Seniors Andre Caldwell and Tony Joiner?s time to impress NFL scouts is dwindling.
Caldwell especially, coming off an injury, needs to prove his durability.
Then there are juniors Cornelius Ingram and Derrick Harvey, two players with NFL potential who have been solid but not spectacular this year.
A big game for either one on Saturday could provide the nudge he needs to leave Gainesville a year early.
But a big game for the team, and that keeps everyone focused on 2007 instead of 2008 and beyond.
