Ellington

Dr. S here with good news and bad news for college football fans. Good news: Ole Miss and Mississippi State both have pivotal SEC games on Saturday. Bad news: they're both going to lose. Remember folks, these predictions are for entertainment purposes only. So don't blame me …

Before this weekend's main course of college football, there's a savory appetizer of junior college football when Hinds plays at Mississippi Gulf Coast on Thursday at 7 p.m. (probably in Perkinston), provided Hurricane Lili doesn't interfere. Hinds and Gulf Coast are both 1-1 in South Division play. The loser will be out of the division race. … Hinds 24, Gulf Coast 21

Florida, 4-1, 2-0 SEC at Ole Miss, 3-1, 1-0, 11 a.m., Saturday, at Oxford (TV: CBS): Both teams have offenses that can break the scoreboard, but the Rebels are running out of SEC-caliber bodies on both sides of the ball. … Florida 42, Ole Miss 21

Mississippi State, 1-3, 0-2, at South Carolina, 3-2, 1-1, noon, Saturday, at Columbia, S.C. (TV: Get real): Good news for Mississippi State: Running back Dontae Walker probably won't be able to tiptoe around the field this Saturday. A bum shoulder will probably keep the bum on the bench. Unless State's receivers remember to catch the ball in the end zone, and the Bulldog defense figures out how to stop the run, State looks like it's on a runaway train straight to Cellarsville. … South Carolina 17, MSU 13

In other games on Saturday, Millsaps is at Maryville (up yonder in Tennessee someplace) at 12:30 p.m.; West Georgia visits woeful Delta State at 1 p.m. in Cleveland; Bethel plays Belhaven at Newell Field at 1:30 p.m.; Mississippi College visits Hardin-Simmons (out in Texas somewhere) at 2 p.m.; Paul Quinn (coached by former Valley coach Archie "The Gunslinger" Cooley) plays Mississippi Valley State at 2 p.m. in Itta Bena; and Fort Valley State visits Alcorn State at 6:30 p.m. in Lorman.

Baseball notes: The baseball playoffs started Tuesday, so I won't bother going through the whole rigamarole of predicting who will get to the World Series (Cardinals and Angels). The dope-smoking Mets put Bobby Valentine out of his misery and fired him. Cheech and Chong are being considered as co-managers. Meanwhile, the team's 2002 highlights video will be entitled "We Were Going to the World Series, But Then We Got High." … Mississippi State alumnus and former Yankees/Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter was doing the color commentary on ESPN Radio's broadcast of the Cardinals-Snakes game on Tuesday night. As a radio analyst, Buck makes an excellent manager. Buck is going back to the dugout soon, probably either as skipper of the Red Sox or the New York Bongs (if Puff The Magic Dragon isn't available).