MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / October 7, 2000

LAPLACE – LSU has shown that it can bounce back from an upset to beat a ranked team.

This week, the Tigers get to show whether they can follow up on pulling an upset of their own with another on the road.

A week after upsetting Tennessee, and two weeks after being upset by UAB, LSU travels to The Swamp to play 12th-ranked Florida. The Tigers’last victory over the Gators came in 1997 when Florida was ranked No. 1in the country.

LSU not only has to get up for a highly-ranked team for the second straight week but they have to face a Florida team coming off its first loss of the season to Mississippi State. Steve Spurrier will not be in a good mood andthat is never a good sign for visiting teams.

Tulane also goes on the road today with a chance to go over .500 for theseason. The Green Wave, coming off a victory at home against Cincinnati,steps out of Conference USA action to play Louisiana-Lafayette. Tulane’sleading rusher, Mewelde Moore, may not play today with a high ankle sprain but that may not matter against a Ragin’ Cajun team that is 0-5 on the season.

One of the best matchups so far this season will be played in Miami today as the seventh-ranked Hurricanes host No. 1 Florida State. This is annuallyone of the best rivalries although the Seminoles have won the last five in the series.

Another rivalry that cooled for a time before heating up again in recent years is Oklahoma and Texas. The 11th-ranked Longhorns host the 10th-ranked Sooners in the Red River rivalry. This rivalry used to decidenational championships and will go a long ways this year in the race in the Big 12 South Division.

Staying in the Big 12, unbeaten Iowa State hosts unbeaten and second- ranked Nebraska. The Cornhuskers struggled past Missouri last week andcannot afford to overlook the Cyclones, a team off to a surprising start after being picked to finish last in the Big 12 North Division.

The SEC has three big rivalry games today. Besides LSU and Florida, No. 15Auburn travels to 20th-ranked Mississippi State and No. 19 Georgia hostsNo. 21 Tennessee between the hedges. Like LSU, Mississippi State has toget up for a second straight ranked opponent after defeating the Gators last week. The winner of the Tennessee-Georgia game stays alive in theSEC East race.

There are also two key matchups in the Big 10. No. 6 Michigan hasrecovered from an earlier loss to UCLA to defeat Illinois and Wisconsin in successive weeks. The Wolverines cannot afford a letdown this week asthey travel to Purdue, a team that had been ranked in the Top 25 for most of the season.

In the other game, No. 8 travels to Camp Randall to play 24th-ranked Wisconsin. The Buckeyes are coming off an impressive blowout of PennState two weeks ago. Wisconsin, on the other hand, as fallen from being aTop Five team after successive losses to Northwestern and Michigan.

Out west, the best matchup of the day pits surprising Oregon State, ranked No. 23, against 13th-ranked Washington. The Beavers are coming off anupset of USC last week. Washington is coming off a loss to the Beavers’cross-state rival Oregon.

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