Rivalry trumps ranking in Georgia-Florida

-- Yet both teams still cling to hope of reaching the SEC championship game.

Florida, ranked in the nation's top 10 early this month, will arrive at EverBank Field on a three-game losing streak. Georgia, on a four-game losing streak early this month, will arrive on a three-game winning streak.

Another incongruity: The team that lost 17 of the past 20 games in this series, Georgia, is favored.

Should be interesting.

Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m., and the game will be on CBS -- yes, a nationally televised game between two unranked teams.

It'll be the first Georgia-Florida game since 1979 with neither team ranked in the national polls. In fact, in 17 of 30 games since then, both teams were ranked. And this will be Florida's first game as an unranked team against any opponent in six seasons under coach Urban Meyer.

Rivalry trumps ranking, though.

"They have a little hate in their hearts for us," Georgia linebacker Akeem Dent said of the Gators, "and we have a little hate in our hearts for them."

Florida is 4-3 (2-3 SEC) and Georgia is 4-4 (3-3 SEC), and maybe the oddest part, given those records, is that the game actually carries high stakes. If Florida wins, it can reach the Dec. 4 SEC title game in Atlanta by following up with victories over Vanderbilt and South Carolina the next two weeks. If Georgia wins, it has a chance to reach the title game provided South Carolina loses two of its three remaining conference games.

"We pretty much dug out of a hole," said Georgia coach Mark Richt, referring to the ascent from 1-4 to 4-4, "and now we're just trying to climb the mountain a little bit."

Beating Florida, even this season, would be quite a climb for a Georgia program that has lost to the Gators seven of nine times under Richt and by a combined score of 90-27 the past two seasons.

Florida hasn't been putting up big numbers lately. Its typically high-powered offense ranks ninth in the SEC and 89th in the nation in yards per game. The Gators scored only six points in a loss to Alabama and seven in a loss to Mississippi State. Uncharacteristically, they have had too many turnovers and too few big plays.

But after using an open date last week to get healthier -- and to modify their offense, according to Meyer -- the Gators hope to look a bit more like their old selves.

Their top running back, champion sprinter Jeff Demps, limited by a sprained foot since Sept. 18, "is the best he's been in whatever it's been, five weeks," Meyer told reporters after practice Thursday night. "He's not 100 percent yet, but I'm hoping he's going to be 100 percent at game time."

The Gators also will have speedy wide receiver-running back Chris Rainey back in the game, Meyer said. Rainey had been suspended since his September arrest for allegedly sending a former girlfriend a text message that read, "Time to Die, [expletive]."

Unlike the Gators, Georgia has been putting up big offensive numbers recently. The Bulldogs are coming off games of 40-plus points against Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky -- the first time Georgia has scored 40-plus in three consecutive SEC games.

"Last week was a big step to get to .500," wide receiver A.J. Green said, "and this would be another building block to the championship in Atlanta. It would be another great win."

Said Richt: "I'm just thankful we've gotten to this game and there is true meaning for us in the Eastern Division race."