No. 3 Auburn at No. 4 Ole Miss (-2), 7 pm ESPN
Daniel: This is what the SEC is all about. Two teams with legitimate national championship hopes squaring off under the lights in somewhat ov a de facto elimination game. There are talented skill players on both sides and upper-level quarterbacks featured in this game as well. I like Ole Miss because of its defense, which is second in the conference in terms of total yards given up, while Auburn is ninth. Ole Miss did a great job of not letting emotion get to them after beating Alabama and I think they’ll bounce back after their first loss as well. Winner: Ole Miss 27-24
Houston: Ole Miss went into Death Valley last week and never looked like the team that we had seen all season. Bo Wallace’s late – and bizarre -interception sealed the upset for an LSU team that appears to be finding their stride as of late. Ole Miss gets Auburn in Oxford for this game, and these Tigers look to be ripe for the taking. Ole Miss’ defense has been incredibly strong all season and I expect another strong performance and Nick Marshall and the rest of Gus Malzahn’s crew from the plains. The Tigers are coming off of a game in which they surrendered 400+ passing yards and five touchdowns to Dylan Thompson and South Carolina, so I’m going to go with Bo Wallace rebounding from his LSU performance with a strong game against an average Auburn secondary. Winner: Ole Miss 27-20
Reed: I FINALLY pick Ole Miss to win a big game after doubting them all year and they Dooley the game away in Baton Rouge. Auburn struggled to put away South Carolina last week, but I think they’ll play much better this weekend. They’ll have the talent and coaching edge. Though Ole Miss has one of the best defenses in the nation, Auburn is a different beast offensively. They rank second in the SEC in yards per play and, though their defense struggled against the Gamecocks, they’re better on that side of the ball than they were last season. The Tigers will prove they’re for real this weekend and do something Alabama couldn’t – win in Oxford. If the world is lucky, we’ll see another epic meltdown from an Ole Miss fan after the game. Winner: Auburn 27-20
Brad: The playoff selection committee releasing its top 25 on Oct. 28 is akin to the NCAA basketball tournament selection committee releasing theirs before conference season: It’s completely meaningless. The only positive that came out of it was the weeping and gnashing of teeth from the Crimson Nation down here in Alabama. Alas, in those initial (worthless) projections, both participants in this week’s most-ballyhooed game were included. On one hand, there’s the offensive-minded Tigers coming off rushing for 395 yards against a hapless South Carolina defense. On the other, there’s the nation’s best defensive team in the Rebels dealing with scoring a lone touchdown in a 10-7 loss in Death Valley. While I don’t necessarily see a “let down” here for the Rebs, I think Auburn’s the better team. The game being in Oxford is a bonus for Hugh Freeze, but Auburn is about to start hitting its stride. Winner: Auburn 23-17
