This is becoming routine at the Iron Bowl.
Passion is always high in the Alabama-Auburn rivalry, but for the third consecutive year, the game has national title implications.
In 2009, Alabama was striving for a perfect season and the national championship.
Last year, Auburn was also undefeated and on its way to winning the title.
This year, Alabama (10-1) is back and, even with a loss, has a shot at another crown. But the second-ranked Tide must win at Auburn (7-4) on Saturday.
"So the deal is, whoever has the most pride, whoever gives the greatest effort, whoever has the most resiliency will come out on top," Auburn defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker (Warner Robins) said. " ... You know they're going to have a chip on their shoulder. They just got back to No. 2, so you already know they're thinking championship. But they have to come through Auburn. We already have a mutual respect, but you know how this rivalry is. It's not the Deep South's oldest rivalry; it's Auburn and Alabama."
The Crimson Tide defeated Auburn 26-21 on its road to the 2009 national title and the Tigers rallied from a 24-point deficit defeat Alabama 28-27 in Tuscaloosa last year on the way to their national championship.
The Tigers have struggled developing consistency on both sides of the ball and haven’t been able to put together back-to-back wins in almost two months. Still, they are 6-0 at home this season.
It's also the first meeting between the teams since Alabama fan Harvey Updyke Jr. confessed to poisoning the 130-year-old oak trees at Toomer's Corner.
"We really don't have any interest in anybody playing in the Pac-12 or Pac-10 or whatever it is, or the Big 12," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "Any of those games really don't matter. None of those games matter. Nothing matters except how we play in this game. That's all that matters. In fact, I think I'm going to tell the team that if they want to watch the LSU-Arkansas game, turn it off and go watch some Auburn film. That game means nothing to us, either."
Burning question
How is Connor Shaw (Flowery Branch) progressing as South Carolina's starting quarterback?
Coach Steve Spurrer said Shaw "had his best game, I think, ever as a Gamecock," after watching him go 16-of-18 for 217 yards and three touchdowns and rush for a career-high 90 yards in South Carolina's 41-20 victory over The Citadel on Saturday. He also scored on a 60-yard run.
Shaw took over as the starter when Stephen Garcia was demoted in early October and eventually kicked off the team.
Though he struggled against Florida and Arkansas, Shaw has played well, leading the Gamecocks to a 5-1 mark, despite the loss of running back Marcus Lattimore to a season-ending knee injury on Oct. 15.
Overall, Shaw has completed 64.9 percent of his passes (98-of-151) for 1,008 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions. He’s also rushed for 376 yards and six scores.
In focus
The Tennessee-Vanderbilt rivalry grew in intensity this weekend.
Not only did the Volunteers win Saturday's game 27-21 on an overtime interception return that the SEC said shouldn't have been reviewed because the play was whistled dead. Now there's a postgame locker room video on YouTube in which Tennessee coach Derek Dooley can be heard saying, "That last thing I'm going to remind you of is, the one thing Tennessee always does is kick the [expletive] out of Vanderbilt."
Vanderbilt coach James Franklin said he has heard about the video, but hadn't seen it.
“We'll watch it as many times as we got to watch it next year,” he said. “That's a wound that I'm going to leave open that's not going to heal. I'm going to leave it open for a year and we'll discuss it next year."
Tennessee is 73-27-5 all-time against Vanderbilt, 29-2 in the past 31 games and has won six in a row against the Commodores. Both teams need wins on Saturday to become bowl eligible.
“I’m a little disappointed that a video is out on our locker room celebration,” Dooley said. “But that’s kind of the world we live in. It’s like there’s no sacred place. I think probably all 120 [FBS] coaches out there in football have a side to them, where they loosen up with the team that they don’t do in public.
“You take those things for what they are. It’s a postgame, emotional, have a little fun ... and then you close the door on it when you leave.”
Etc.
Defensive tackle Alfred Davis (Banneker) has 13 tackles in 11 games for Arkansas. ... Vanderbilt receivers Chris Boyd (Roswell) and Jonathan Krause (South Gwinnett) have combined for 48 catches and 550 yards this season. Boyd leads Vanderbilt with seven touchdown catches. ... Tennessee's Da'Rick Rogers (Calhoun) leads the SEC in catches with 65, is tied with Arkansas' Jarius Wright in receiving yards (with 1,002) and is second behind Wright in touchdown catches with nine. ... Auburn safety Neiko Thorpe (Tucker) is eighth in the SEC in tackles with 85.
Quotable
"This win would probably override all the losses. It would be a good thing for us. They beat us last year. All we're focused on is a win and leaving here the right way and get ready for a bowl game.'' -- Florida running back Chris Rainey on Saturday's game against Florida State
"After my last game I'm going to disconnect for a bit and see what's out there. I still feel like there is one more run left in me." -- Houston Nutt, who coaches his final game at Mississippi on Saturday
By the numbers
48.9 – Percentage of the time that Alabama holds its opponents to three-downs-and-out (65 of 133), which leads the SEC.
88.6 – Winning percentage for SEC teams in games against non-conference opponents. The SEC is 39-5 with four more non-conference games on Saturday.
Friday’s schedule
Arkansas at LSU, 2:30 p.m. (CBS)
Saturday’s schedule
Georgia at Georgia Tech, noon (ESPN)
Tennessee at Kentucky, 12:21 p.m. (WPCH)
Alabama at Auburn, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Mississippi at Mississippi State, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Florida State at Florida, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Clemson at South Carolina, 7:45 p.m. (ESPN)
