By Chris Marler
One of my former college teammates had a saying whenever he wanted to rally everyone for a night out: “It’s the biggest night of the year.”
Granted, Nick Trainor said it on random Mondays — and now that I think about it, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, too. But that’s neither here nor there. We listen. We don’t judge.
This weekend, though, it really is the biggest night of the year.
Alabama at Missouri
There’s one comparison I keep coming back to. In 2010, Alabama entered the season with massive expectations after winning the national championship. The Tide opened SEC play with two emotional matchups, a come-from-behind win over a top 10 Arkansas team and a dominant blowout of No. 7 Florida the following week. Those back-to-back statement wins had the fan base riding high, but they also left the team drained of energy and emotion.
What came after that was six straight SEC games with teams coming off a bye week before playing them. First on that list was South Carolina. The Gamecocks won 35-21.
Back-to-back emotional wins against a ranked opponent? Check. An offensive minded coach with a chip on his shoulder coming off a bye week? Check.
This time, the opponent has the best running back in America, and is also the only team in FBS with a top four ranked offense and defense. Give me the Tigers in a sleepy 11 a.m. kick from Columbia, Missouri.
Eli Drinkwitz stayed on the SEC teleconference past his allotted time just to ask Kalen DeBoer if he’d be wearing the “black hoodie of death” this Saturday. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/OZ8PWQL3sD
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) October 9, 2025
The Winning
Missouri 31, Alabama 28
The Boozing
It feels sacrilegious to choose anything other than an Anheuser-Busch product when visiting the state of Misosuri. However, Boulevard is an outstanding brewery that deserves far more national recognition than it currently receives. For obvious reasons, we are going with the Boulevard Double Wide IPA here since Alabama is coming to town.
The Double Wide is fitting not only as a nod to Alabama’s culture, but also because of the new offensive package featuring 6-foot-7, 365 pound left tackle Kadyn Proctor catching passes and taking handoffs. It is 8.5% alcohol, so be careful.
If you’re more of a lightweight or “from the type of kin that ain’t got money” as my Granny T from Anniston, Alabama used to say, there’s also a Single Wide IPA from Boulevard that is just 5.7%.
“Double wides are for the people that got money.” RIP Granny T.
Oklahoma vs Texas
It feels like Vegas is trying to tell us something with this line. It’s eerily similar to last week’s line when the Longhorns traveled to Gainesville against a 1-3 Florida team, but the line kept trending in the Gators direction.
Texas is coming off a bad loss, and they’re 0-2 on the road. This is a neutral site game, but with or without John Mateer, there’s no reason to believe Texas will suddenly solve one of the nation’s best defenses.
Per @FDSportsbook sources Texas -1.5 is with Mateer assumed playing. Without Mateer they would make the game Texas -5.5.
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) October 7, 2025
The Winning
Oklahoma 27, Texas 17
The Boozing
Tito’s. Dealer’s choice with the mixture.
Texas fans may just want to drink it straight from the bottle after Saturday, though. Tito’s is perfect because not only is it out of Austin, but it’s also a bit of a fraud. Fun fact: When Tito’s first launched, its big marketing pitch, aside from the price, was that it was distilled six times to remove impurities. Brands like Grey Goose only distilled once, so naturally, Tito’s had to be better.
Wrong. It turns out that distilling vodka that many times actually removes too much character, making it lower quality than vodkas like Grey Goose, which are distilled only once. To make things worse, Tito’s was later sued because they were lying about distilling six times and were found to only be distilling their product four times.
And that is a very long winded way to say that if marketing fraud isn’t a way to describe Arch Manning and this Texas team, then I don’t know what is.
Florida at Texas A&M
This season has been full of uncertainty. Teams once seen as title contenders have fallen apart, and Heisman hopefuls might not even finish as starters. But one thing feels undeniably true, Billy Napier with job security is 1999 Gerry DiNardo all over again.
Billy Napier on the hot seat is 2019 Ed Orgeron. Or maybe even 2009-2020 Nick Saban.
Not this weekend, though.
Billy Napier the moment his seat gets hotter than lava pic.twitter.com/MeX4xTEDpT
— Nico (@elitetakes_) October 4, 2025
The Winning
Texas A&M 28, Florida 16
The Boozing
The Boot and Rally.
Believe it or not there’s an actual drink called the Boot and Rally. It contains ingredients like gin, dry vermouth, Gran Classico and Fernet Branca. Full disclosure, that sounds horrible. But, not as horrible as the thought of Billy Napier retaining his job for another season sounds to some Florida fans. Also, I can’t explain it but whatever “Fernet Branca” is feels very Aggie coded.
Georgia at Auburn
This is my favorite rivalry in all of college football. That might sound crazy if you’re from anywhere outside Alabama or Georgia, but it’s true. The Deep South’s oldest rivalry began on February 20, 1892, in Piedmont Park. I grew up next to that park and started watching SEC football before I ever watched cartoons. I love this rivalry.
Two people ruined this rivalry for the rest of the nostalgic SEC fans, though: Kirby Smart and Gus Malzahn. Kirby’s part came from dominating this rivalry with a 9-1 record against the Tigers since he became head coach in Athens. Gus ruined it by demanding it be moved to earlier in the season so Auburn wouldn’t have to play Georgia and Alabama in a three week span every season. I’ll never forgive Gus for that.
The Winning
Georgia 30, Auburn 20
The Boozing
Southern Comfort.
Let’s be clear, it is absolutely not for the taste. Southern Comfort is not good. But, neither is this rivalry over the last 20 years, considering the Dawgs have won 17 of the last 20. This is purely about nostalgia and literal southern comfort. Pour a glass, drop a “bless your heart” to your friends from the losing side and go sit on the front porch to think about how good things used to be. Looking at you, Auburn.
𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓓𝓮𝓮𝓹 𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓽𝓱’𝓼 𝓞𝓵𝓭𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓡𝓲𝓿𝓪𝓵𝓻𝔂#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/8pQeMi3xRH
— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) October 9, 2025
South Carolina at LSU
LSU comes out of the bye week much healthier than when they went to Oxford two weeks ago. Everything this Tiger team wants to achieve is still in front of them. However, if they lose to this South Carolina team, the margin for error is zero.
All week, I’ve thought about what this game would’ve looked like a season ago if LaNorris Sellers played the second half. He racked up over 200 yards of offense and two touchdowns in the first half before sitting out the final 30 minutes because of an injury. I absolutely think the Gamecocks would’ve won that game. That’s been a rally cry for a lot of South Carolina fans on social media this week. Maybe 60-minutes of Sellers would somehow result in a win this year.
Lanorris Sellers last year vs LSU before the injury: pic.twitter.com/plp5Djb8bx
— 𝕄𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕪🌴 (@beamerball212) October 8, 2025
Here’s the thing, that LSU defense isn’t this LSU defense. On top of that, this South Carolina offensive line has three starters out. It’s going to be a long night for the Gamecocks in Death Valley.
The Winning
LSU 30, South Carolina 17
The Boozing
A mudslide.
This is an island themed drink that was invented in the 1970s down on the Grand Cayman Island. It’s delicious, it’s sweet and it’s very dangerous. The drink is perfect for a number of reasons. I moved here from Columbia, South Carolina and one of the biggest differences between Louisiana and South Carolina is that you can just drive up to a window and buy alcohol to-go. Daiquiris, frozen drinks, margaritas, etc. You name it and you can get it. It’s awesome.
That’s the first reason this drink fits the game. The other is the wave of negativity that’ll hit whichever fan base loses. Things will turn ugly fast, and if Brian Kelly falls to South Carolina, some LSU fans will be ready to buy out his contract and send him on a Caribbean vacation before the season’s even over.
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