College Football Picks Featuring Tennessee Vols Vs Florida Gators

It's put up or shut up time for the Tennessee Vol's head coach Lane Kiffin.

During Lane Kiffin's introductory press conference as the Vol's new head coach he made the extraordinary comment that he couldn't wait to sing 'rocky top all night long next year after we beat Florida".

Say what?! This definitely caused a stir with the media and albeit Florida players and fans across the country (including myself), but it did generate excitement pertaining to the Sept. 19th showdown in Gainesville, Florida and made this rivalry just a bit more interesting.

Then reality struck.

Tennessee lost to UCLA 19-15 the week before the big match-up versus the defending National Champions. Oh boy, this could get ugly, fast.

Last year the Florida Gators went into Knoxville and defeated Tennessee 30-6 behind a stellar defensive effort and flawless offensive display. But unfortunately for Tennessee the same team that held them to 6 points on their home field is the same defensive unit as last year-and oh yeah, they are playing at the Swamp, and oh yeah, they are a lot better.

This could spell a big blow-out as the oddmakers are thinking this as well with a 28 point spread in favor of Florida.

But some positives for Tennessee are: This is a rivalry game and funny things can happen; Tennessee defense is pretty good, led by former Buccaneer defensive coordinator Monty Kiffin.

But in all reality, when you get Tebow's and Urban Meyer's attention, there's going to be some payback. Ask LSU, Florida State, and Oklahoma over the years, where players have called out the team or Tebow and when it was settled on the field Florida was the last team standing.

So this highlights this week's big games and let's roll out a few picks shall we?

For the season I am 7-2 (5-0 Week 1, 2-1 Week 2). I don't have a set number of picks I just pick a few I feel comfortable with or if it's a headline game i'll go ahead and do my best.

College Football Games Week 3 Headline Tennessee vs. Florida

USC at Washington (+20)

USC (2-0) comes off an impressive road victory at Ohio State last week and hopes to continue with their winning ways at Washington (1-1). But on the sidelines of the Huskies will be former USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who knows USC and Pete Carroll very well.

Washington had a tough loss to begin the season vs LSU 31-23 and now has another ranked opponent coming into their house, a team that beat them 56-0 last year in Southern Cal.

Recent talks have USC Quarterback Matt Barkley sitting out and Aaron Corp starting for USC. I don't know but another new Quarterback getting their first start going to face a former employee on the road might spell trouble. I think USC wins but it is not a blow out.

Take Washington (+20)

Michigan State at Notre Dame (-10)

Notre Dame suffered a heart-breaking loss last week at the hands of Dick Rod and Michigan, and now faces Michigan's other state school, Michigan State.

Michigan State has OWNED Notre Dame at home as Notre Dame hasn't won on their own home field versus them since 1993! Yikes! I think Lou Holtz was the head coach back then.

Bottom line is that Central Michgian QB Dan LeFevour torched Michigan State's defensive and threw for 328 yards. One of Notre Dame's strengths is throwing the ball with Jimmy Clausen. I think Notre Dame finally gets a win at home versus the Spartans.

Take Notre Dame (-10)

Tennessee Vols at Florida Gators (-29.5)

Now we reach our featured game for the weekend, and possibly only featured because of Lane Kiffins comments alone. But here we go.

Tennessee comes to the Swamp to face the defending National Champions Florida Gators. Florida defeated Tennessee last season in Knoxville 30-6, and shut down the Vols offensive output. All 11 starters return for Florida and I know they are chomping at the bit to make Lane eat his words and make him wish he had never made those ridiculous comments.

What Tennessee has on their side is a good defense, a great defensive coach in Monte Kiffin (former Buccaneer defensive coordinator and father of Lane), and a projected first round safety in Eric Berry.

Unfortunately, Tennessee's offense is pretty bad. They only mustered 15 points at home versus UCLA after exploding for over 60 in it's first home game versus Western Kentucky.

Florida usually shows up teams that do a lot of talking before hand and this shouldn't be any different. What might slow down this game from being a total embarrassment is Urban Meyer's friendship with defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin. But then again, maybe Lane destroyed that relationship with his comments.

Urban Meyer 4-0 versus Tennessee in his career at Florida. This game goes either way, Florida 34 Tennessee 13. Florida 62 Tennessee 17.

Take Florida (-29.5)