Despite its best efforts, UF is still not out of the running in the SEC East. With a 4-3 conference record, the Gators trail both Tennessee and Georgia by one game.
If the season finishes and the teams are in this order, the Vols will make the trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship. UT beat the Bulldogs 35-14 back on Oct. 6, giving them the head-to-head tie breaker over Mark Richt's crew.
Chances are, especially with the way this season has been, one or both of those teams will lose. That'll shake things up a bit, but I'll do the thinking for you.
Here are the keys for each of the three teams to win the East:
TENNESSEE: Win out. The Vols have Arkansas and Vanderbilt at home before they travel to Kentucky for the season finale. If they win all three, they're in ATL plain and simple.
GEORGIA: The 'Dawgs still face Auburn and Kentucky, but both games are at home. They need to win out and pray for a Vols loss.
FLORIDA: The Gators have the most talent out of these three, but they shot themselves in the foot against UGA two weeks ago. Now they have to beat South Carolina and then hope that one of a few things will happen.
The easiest is for Georgia and Tennessee to both lose one game. This would create a three-way tie (who doesn't love a good three-way?), and since each team would have a 1-1 head-to-head record the tie-breaker would be SEC East records. UGA already has two East losses, so they would be eliminated, and the same could happen to UT depending on who they lose to. If the 'Dawgs are knocked out of the three-way tie, UF owns the head-to-head with the Vols and would go to Atlanta.
Two Georgia losses and one Tennessee loss would accomplish the same thing, but if the Gators end up tied with only Georgia (one UGA loss and two UT losses would do this), then the Bulldogs take the East.
Basically, if you're a Gators fan, Georgia losing is always good, but Tennessee just needs to falter once.
ROAD TO THE LIBERTY BOWL:
All of the above is assuming that Florida beats the 'Ol Ball Coach and his band of Gamecocks in Columbia. If the Gators lose, things could go pretty far south. Technically, Memphis is northwest, but you know what I mean. All I can hope for is a titanic clash between Florida and the East Carolina Pirates.
ECU is handling their end of the bargain as they lead the Conference USA East, and should they win their remaining conference matchups with Marshall and Tulane, they are headed to the prestigious C-USA Title game against Houston or Tulsa. A win there puts them into the Liberty Bowl.
Florida needs to step up - er, down - here and make this happen. Just blow this game against Spurrier and drop to sixth or seventh overall in the SEC. Then they are bound for either the Liberty or Music City Bowl, and if they can get that close, I have faith that God will take care of the rest.
