Paschall's picks: Hogs and Tigers in elimination showdown?

While LSU-Florida and Georgia-South Carolina give the Southeastern Conference a rare weekend with two top-10 showdowns, the Arkansas-Auburn matchup at Jordan-Hare Stadium is the closest thing to an elimination game in this year's bowl picture.

Auburn is 1-3 and can ill afford a loss with Texas A&M, Georgia and Alabama down the road, and the Razorbacks are 1-4 with South Carolina, Mississippi State and LSU yet to go. This is the first meeting between Auburn and Arkansas in which both teams have losing records, and they were a combined 10-1 two years ago when they met in Jordan-Hare.

In conference losses so far to Alabama and Texas A&M, the Razorbacks have been outscored by 100 points.

"Everybody gets down with a loss, and that's part of life," Arkansas coach John L. Smith said Wednesday. "I think these guys have held together and supported one another, but we need to take what we do in practice to the game."

Auburn was off last week after its 12-10 loss to LSU.

"Arkansas obviously hasn't started the season the way they wanted, but they are still a very dangerous football team with a lot of talent," Tigers coach Gene Chizik said. "They're a couple of turnovers and explosive plays away from really being a different football team."

Like only 80 combined points worse than the Crimson Tide and Aggies.

Pasquali's Pix:

Arkansas at Auburn: The Tigers ventured into the red zone just nine times in September. Tigers 20, Hogs 13.

Mississippi State at Kentucky: The top two quarterbacks and tailbacks for the Wildcats at the start of the season are not in the picture this week. Bullies 34, Wildcats 17.

LSU at Florida: Charlie McClendon was the last LSU coach to defeat the Gators in three consecutive years. Tigers 17, Gators 14.

Georgia Tech at Clemson: If defense is your thing, by all means, change the channel. Tigers 42, Yellow Jackets 31.

Vanderbilt at Missouri: The Commodores are black and gold, while the Tigers are black and old gold. Huge difference there. Tigers 34, Commodores 25.

Texas A&M at Ole Miss: The Aggies have defeated SMU, South Carolina State and Arkansas the past three weeks by a combined 176-27. Aggies 45, Rebels 28.

Georgia at South Carolina: This rivalry has evolved a bit since those Ray Goff vs. Sparky Woods days. Bulldogs 31, Gamecocks 24.

Miami vs. Notre Dame: What a monstrous adjustment for the Hurricanes this week, having to play in front of people. Irish 28, Hurricanes 19.

Last week:

Winners.....................17

Alcohol enemas..........8

Pasquali is now 99-26 overall (79.2 percent) this season.

OTHER PICKS

Boston College 42, Army 16

Va. Tech 23, N. Carolina 20

Virginia 20, Duke 17

Maryland 26, Wake Forest 25

FSU 37, N.C. State 24

Southern Cal 38, Utah 21

Oregon 49, Washington 29

Texas 31, West Virginia 22

Ohio State 24, Nebraska 23

Kansas State 35, Kansas 18

TCU 37, Iowa State 14

La.-Monroe 34, MTSU 27

Oregon St. 46, Wash. St. 10

Penn St. 28, Northwestern 22

Cincinnati 35, Miami (Ohio) 19

Oklahoma 21, Texas Tech 10

Rutgers 30, Connecticut 23

Upcoming Events