Marquee Matchup (9) Florida at (1) LSU 8:28 p.m. ET, CBS Tiger Stadium (capacity: 92,400) Baton Rouge, La.

Breaking down the SEC battle that could be a preview of the conference title game ...

Four things you should care about

Andre Caldwell's return from injury should give the Gators an offensive boost. Doug Benc/Getty Images

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1. The common-sense meter is tilted drastically toward LSU. The Tigers' defense ranks first nationally in pretty much everything other than points allowed (they're second). and Cars Illegally Liberated from Impound Lots (that's Florida's department). The showdown is in Death Valley at night, a home-field advantage that includes roughly five extra hours of alcohol infusion for LSU fans. The Tigers did not have a high-profile arrest this week, while Florida did -- though charges were dropped against senior safety Tony Joiner. So this should be easy, right? Just pick LSU and be done with it?

2. Side with the Tigers, though, and you'd be ignoring the most powerful force in the SEC: that which ensures no team will emerge from conference play unscathed. The SEC's rep is built on the fact that it's so tough, you can't run the table -- and this feels like the game LSU will lose, yet recover from in time to reach the BCS title bout in New Orleans. When else are the Tigers going to fall? At Kentucky in another week? That upset pick is too trendy to come true. This one has a chance.

3. It all depends on how you interpret last week. The school of thought I don't like: That LSU kept on cruising (with a 34-9 win over Tulane), while Florida was finally exposed for having no traditional running game (in its 20-17 loss to Auburn). The one I prefer: That while most of the country was talking about how USC looked sluggish against Washington, and used that as reason to bump LSU to No. 1, it was largely ignored that the Tigers let a far inferior Tulane team hang around for nearly three quarters. And Florida, while its offense stalled against the Tigers, got the wakeup call its youngsters -- who were starting to believe themselves invincible -- needed prior to their trip to Baton Rouge.

4. The wideout shuffle will matter. As long as you believe the injury reports, LSU will be without its best wide receiver, Early Doucet, who suffered a strained groin in mid-September and has missed the past three games. His absence is offset, to some degree, by the fact that one of Florida's top corners, Markihe Anderson, suffered an MCL sprain against Tennessee and has yet to return. But what about the impact of the Gators bringing back the previously injured Andre Caldwell -- their best wide receiver? Urban Meyer's offense had been relying too heavily on his Heisman candidate duo of dual-threat QB Tim Tebow and athlete Percy Harvin. Having a second burner on the field next to Harvin -- against an LSU secondary that's not in the same speed class as its linebackers are -- should make Florida less predictable.

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