SEC Week Three Preview | Ole Miss hosts Arkansas, Plus Big Game Set for Neyland Stadium; Times and TV

OXFORD, Miss. – Fans of Southeastern Conference football will get multiple league games for the first time this season Saturday.

Those out-of-conference games have some interesting possibilities. Here is a look at the slate of games this week:

No. 13 OKLAHOMA (2-0) at TEMPLE (2-0) – 11 a.m., ESPN2

This is not one of those intriguing matchups. Coming off a win over Michigan, John Mateer brings his Sooners to Philadelphia to play Temple. Who scheduled this thing?

All I know about Temple is Daryl Hall and John Oates went to school there. Maybe there will be a rerun of Daryl’s House on at the same time.

The point spread in this game is Oklahoma by as much as they want.

WISCONSIN (2-0) at No. 19 ALABAMA (1-1) – 11 a.m., ABC

The Crimson Tide hopes to stay on the winning track after a still-stinging loss at Florida State.

As expected, last week Alabama destroyed Louisiana-Monroe to give the Tide some hope for the rest of the season.

Now we will see if the Tide can replicate that against a Big Ten team.

SOUTH ALABAMA (1-1) at No. 24 AUBURN (2-0) – 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Give Auburn credit, the Tigers are using an out-of-conference game on an in-state team.

South Alabama will join the ranks of UAB, Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Jacksonville State.

They will also join the club as teams who went to Jordan-Hare Stadium to cash a nice check and head home with a loss.

 No. 6 GEORGIA (2-0) at No. 15 TENNESSEE (2-0) – 2:30 p.m., ABC

This is the marquee game of the week in the conference. Now we will learn the truth, albeit early in the season.

Can Gunner Stockton lead the Bulldogs to the same heights the now-Miami Hurricane Carson Beck did? Is Tennessee better with Joey Aguilar at quarterback than it was with now-UCLA Bruin Nico Iamaleava?

And how loud will Neyland Stadium be? Get the seismograph out now.

LOUISIANA (1-1) at No. 25 MISSOURI (2-0) – 3 p.m., ESPN +

Prior to the start of the season, the Ragin’ Cajuns circled this game as the one that could propel them into the playoff picture. But a season-opening loss to Rice pretty much negated that.

We had expected to see a good matchup of transfer quarterbacks. Louisiana’s Walker Howard got to Lafayette via LSU and Ole Miss. Beau Pribula is in his first season in CoMo after beginning his career at Penn State. Unfortunately Walker suffered an injury and is expected to be out for the remainder of the season.

Pribula has better weapons around him in this one, so Mizzou has the edge. But do not sleep on the Cajuns, they are dangerous.

UTEP (1-1) No. 7 TEXAS (1-1) – 3:15 p.m., SEC Network

Schools in the same state with the same record so it should be a good game, right? Nope.

This is another tune-up game for the Longhorns.

After coming off a win against San Jose State, Texas has Sam Houston State next week and then hosts a struggling-Florida team. Then it gets real with a game against Oklahoma in Dallas.

If there is a right time for Arch Manning to come into his own, this is it.

 ALCORN STATE at MISSISSIPPI STATE – 5 p.m., ESPN +

I once covered at game at Alcorn State during Steve McNair’s senior season and I know why he spurned bigger schools for the HBCU. Tennessee and Florida State offered him scholarships, but they wanted him as a defensive back. Alcorn told him if he went there, they would let him play quarterback and build him a cathedral as a stadium.

Unfortunately for the Braves, this one is being played in Starkville.

After a dramatic win over a ranked Arizona State team, the Bulldogs only need to be on guard for a letdown against the FCS team.

ARKANSAS (2-0) at No. 17 OLE MISS (2-0) – 6 p.m., ESPN

This one comes down to on thing – can Taylen Green have the opportunity to run all over the Vaught-Hemingway Stadium turf or will Pete Golding’s defense contain him?

Ole Miss needs this one because next week a dangerous Tulane comes to Oxford…and then LSU. The Rebels play six quarterbacks this season who are on the Heisman board, and that starts Saturday with Green.

As for Ole Miss, quarterback Austin Simmons was on the Availability Report Wednesday, listed as “probable” for the game after suffering an ankle injury in Lexington. Fortunately, by Thursday he was no longer on the list, meaning he is able to play vs. the Hogs. Sources have indicated backup quarterback Trinidad Chambliss received plenty of snaps in practice this week.

The point spread for the game has shifted, perhaps because of the uncertainty of Simmons’ ankle? The Rebels opened as a 9.5 to 10.0-point favorite, but as of this writing, it’s down to 6.5.

No. 16 TEXAS A&M (2-0) at No. 8 NOTRE DAME (0-1) – 6:30 p.m., NBC

A few years ago, Georgia went to South Bend and the Bulldog fans took over Notre Dame Stadium. Could the same thing happen when the Aggies head north Saturday?

The Irish took care of business in College Station last year and rode that momentum to not only a berth in the college football playoff, but also a spot in the national championship game.

The winner of this one will have a nice bullet point on its resume for the playoff committee to consider.

EASTERN MICHIGAN (0-2) at KENTUCKY (1-1) – 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Kentucky will likely be without quarterback Zach Calzada in this one. His fourth quarter injury (shoulder) and exit last week in the loss to Ole Miss opened the door for freshman Cutter Boley to get some snaps and the Lexington native looked good.

Boley has taken most of the snaps with the first team offense this week, and Calzada had not returned to practice as of Wednesday.

UK needs Boley to play well and get comfortable with the starting unit because he’ll face a gauntlet after this weekend, should he retain the starting job. After EMU, the Wildcats get South Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Tennessee in successive weeks.

 VANDERBILT (2-0) at No. 11 SOUTH CAROLINA (2-0) – 6:45 p.m., SEC Network

There are a couple of more attractive SEC games this week, but this one has the opportunity to be the best one.

Vanderbilt went to Virginia Tech and ran away from the Hokies last week while the Gamecocks got past South Carolina State.

The quarterback matchup is going to be interesting. Can Diego Pavia continue his success with the Commodores? Can Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers start living up to his preseason hype?

We will find out Saturday night.