SEC Football week 5 picks and predictions: The games that Kentucky fans should be paying attention to

The Kentucky Wildcats are on a bye week this week, so we can sit back and watch football on Saturday, stress-free. Maybe even better than stress-free because we are riding the reverberating high of the upset of Ole Miss last Saturday. It's a good week to be a Wildcat fan. So the question is, what should we be watching this week, and why does it matter for the Wildcats?

First, let's look at the SEC standings and find our place in it, which currently is not in a great spot.

SEC Standings

Texas A&M Aggies 2-0
Texas Longhorns 1-0
Alabama Crimson Tide 1-0
Missouri Tigers 1-0
Tennessee Volunteers 1-0
LSU Tigers 1-0
Oklahoma Sooners 1-1
Georgia Bulldogs 1-1
South Carolina Gamecocks 1-1
Arkansas Razorbacks 1-1
Florida Gators 1-1
Kentucky Wildcats 1-2
Ole Miss Rebels 0-1
Vanderbilt Commodores 0-1
Auburn Tigers 0-2
Mississippi State Bulldogs 0-2

It's fascinating to look at this week's matchups and ask "what outcomes do we want to see happen?"

I asked both the Facebook page and the X followers what game they are most interested in, and there were two that stood out:

Ole Miss Rebels at South Carolina Gamecocks

This game has grown in relevance for the Wildcats because it's a matchup between a team that beat us and a team we just beat. Arguments could be had both ways about which team we want to win. South Carolina beating Ole Miss will continue to show that the loss to the Gamecocks wasn't a resume destroyer like it could have been. However, we also don't want Ole Miss to be deemed overrated, thus negating our win as impressive.

There is a whole contingent of SEC fans who are already ringing the bell for "Ole Miss was never good; they just played bad competition, and they shouldn't have been so highly ranked." Ole Miss winning, I think, is ultimately better for Kentucky. The Rebels showcasing their prowess is a greater need than South Carolina being a middle-of-the-road SEC team.

Ole Miss 34 South Carolina 24

Tennessee Volunteers @ Arkansas Gamecocks

This was the main pick for Facebook; it seems as if that group is always eager to see their rivals lose. This matters to us because watching the Volunteers lose is almost as much of a joy for Wildcats fans as watching Kentucky win. Tennessee going on the road to Arkansas could spell doom for them. This would certainly cause great joy. Let me give you a silver-lining if Tennessee continues to win and sets up a rivalry game with Kentucky and Kentucky can pull off that upset, oh how sweet will that be?

Tennessee 28 Arkansas 21

Those are the main two games that were picked on social media, but here are some other games that matter for Kentucky fans:

Auburn Tigers @ Georgia Bulldogs

We saw Georgia a few weeks ago and almost pulled off a massive upset, and we will see Auburn in a few weeks on October 26. It's a game between an opponent we have played versus an opponent we will play. Auburn seems to be one of the worst teams in the SEC this year, and Georgia is one of the best, so it has a chance to be pretty lopsided.

Georgia 42 Auburn 10

Alabama Crimson Tide @ Vanderbilt Commodores

Kentucky is hosting the Commodores in their next game, and there's going to be a lot to learn by watching the Commodores this week, even if they have to take on Alabama. Vanderbilt was "almost upset" on their own resume as they took Missouri to the wire last Saturday.

Of course, any SEC game is worth watching, and maybe even popping in to see what version of the Florida Gators we get versus UCF. We still haven't figured out if they are bad, unlucky, or maybe even decent.

Alabama 37 Vanderbilt 12