There's certainly no shortage of great football today, but let's face it: the mouths of college football nation are salivating for tonight's primetime showdown between the top-ranked Florida Gators (4-0, 2-0) and No. 4 LSU Tigers (5-0, 3-0). A host of riveting storylines will take center stage when the two teams kick off tonight at 8:00 ET on CBS:
SEC Showdown: No. 1 Florida Gators at No. 4 LSU Tigers
- Concussiongate's denoument: Florida's medical staff have cleared superstar Tim Tebow to play in tonight's game, but will there be any lingering effects that impact his unique style of quarterbacking? Tebow thrives as a run-pass combo threat who thrives on contact. Will he be tentative tonight, or under doctor's orders to limit his rushing?
- Urban Meyer vs. Les Miles: If Florida head coach Urban Meyer is The Genius, counterpart Les Miles is The Gambler. Nobody's better in tight 4th quarter games than LSU's play-to-win head coach and Urban Meyer is 0-2 in trips to Baton Rouge.
- LSU's Absent Offense: While the bulk of the pregame hype is centered on speculation about the effectiveness of Tebow and the Florida offense, the dispositive question in this game may be whether LSU's heretofore mediocre offense will be able to find any success against the nation's deepest, most experienced, and fastest defense. The Gators' defense (returning their top 22 from last year's national title-winning unit) appeared to amp up their intensity two weeks ago when they buried Kentucky; even if Tebow and Florida aren't as explosive as normal, we've not seen anything yet from LSU offensively to think they'll put up a bundle of points on this Florida D.
Game Day Links from Around SB Nation
* SEC blog Team Speed Kills looks back at the preseason expectations surrounding this game and re-evaluates the contest with what we know five weeks into the season.
* Earlier this week Florida blog Alligator Army advocated playing (Tebow back up) John Brantley on Saturday; even now that it’s game day and Tebow has been cleared to play, Alligator Army says they expect to see Brantley take some snaps.
* On the opposite sidelines, And The Valley Shook says there can be no moral victories for LSU tonight and that the key to outright victory over Urban Meyer is to engage his team in a slugfest.
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