LSU-Florida Should be Quite the SEC Show Since Both Have So Much to Prove

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

The Georgia win went part of the way toward validating LSU's high ranking this season.

Beating a ranked SEC opponent on the road is an impressive feat, akin to sitting through an entire Qaddafi U.N. speech.

But this week the Tigers will host consensus No. 1 Florida in the biggest showdown of the college football season.

The status of All-Young Earth quarterback Tim Tebow is still an open question, but the smart money is on him playing.

Tebow and his accompanying army of seraphim will surely sweep out of the east and devour Tiger Stadium—team, fans, and all—in an awesome display of their otherworldly power, according to the conventional wisdom.

Or will they?

Here are some things that LSU has done that Florida hasn't so far this year.

LSU has beaten an out-of-conference team from a BCS conference.

LSU has won on the road against a ranked SEC team.

LSU has beaten a team from the other division.

Let's review the mighty Gators' resume so far this year.

• Dominating opening wins against Charleston Southern and Troy. Combined record: 4-5.

And FCS Charleston Southern lost 59-0 against South Florida.

• Lackluster win over Tennessee, a team that hasn't won a game against a BCS conference team yet this year, including losing at home to Auburn this past weekend.

• Good win over Kentucky. And I am not being sarcastic, that was a solid dominating performance.

It is safe to say that the Gators will face more adversity than they have at any point this season when they travel to Death Valley Saturday night to take on the Tigers.

And though few are saying it, there are significant and serious questions about how effective Tebow will be.

Tebow, more than any other quarterback in football, has made his name by showing the force of will to plow into tacklers with malice. Will he, after suffering a head injury, be able to do the same thing just two weeks later?

Will he still have the same fearlessness that has characterized his entire career?

Will he still move piles through force of will and hardness of crown?

I don't know the answers to these questions. Nobody does.

And if there is one thing we have learned, it's not to bet against Tim Tebow.

But the improvement that LSU must show to beat Florida is no greater than the fortitude the Gators must show in the face of their first tough test of the season.

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