The Essentials:
The 2-1 (0-1 SEC) Tennessee Volunteers take on the 1-3 (0-1 MAC) Buffalo Bulls on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:35 PM ET/11:35 AM CT. The game will be televised on CSS and can be heard throughout the state on the 68 affiliates of the Vol Radio Network.  To find CSS in your area click here.  The game can be heard online anywhere in the world by clicking here.

The folks at the SEC Digital Network take a look at Saturday's tilt between the 1-3 Bulls of Buffalo and the 2-1 Volunteers of Tennessee. 

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On September 10th, the Vanderbilt Commodores created four turnovers on their way to defeating the Conneciticut Huskies by a score of 24-21 in Nashville.  That same UConn squad went to Buffalo on September 24th and defeated the Bulls by a score of 17-3.  Thus, it's easy to deduct Vandy>UConn>Buffalo. 

It was all chalk for the SEC last week with the favorites winning all seven of the contests.  Likewise, all four of the Checkerboard Chatter guys went undefeated.  How boring.  That won't be the case this week as we see some writers take a few risks in their picks.  Let us know what you think.

Nick Saban, Derek Dooley's coaching mentor, went 7-6 in 2007 in his first year with the Crimson Tide.  Bama looked good early but lost four consecutive regular season games before winning against Colorado in the Independence Bowl.  Many remember Alabama's particularly  embarrassing loss to Louisiana-Monroe that season.  It was still a rebuilding period for the Tide.

Check out Derek Dooley's comments relative to the impact Texas A&M will have on SEC recruiting.  Interesting stuff.  Coach also touches on Justin Hunter's injury and replacement as well as the upcoming game with Buffalo. 

Here are 6 links of interest for fans of the Tennessee Volunteers. Give Him 6! is a weekly feature here on Checkerboard Chatter. We try to put links to 6 articles or blogs that you will find informative and interesting. If you ever have suggestions for the weekly Give Him 6! just let us know.

This week's edition focuses on Tennessee's upcoming game with Buffalo but also includes some interesting info about Bruce Pearl and his former assistants.

Last recruiting season presented a variety of hurdles for Coach Derek Dooley and his staff. In the midst of numerous NCAA investigations at Tennessee, Dooley and gang were trying their best to still land a top-tier recruiting class. This is something that is hard when there’s not negative publicity surrounding your program, and near impossible with it. Despite all of the distractions, to the surprise of many around the nation, the coaching staff still managed to reel in a top 15 recruiting class. WR DeAnthony Arnett, OLB Curt Maggit, OG Marcus Jackson, OT Antonio “Tiny” Richardson, and ILB A.J. Johnson headlined this class. The Tennessee roster was chalked full of youth in the 2010-2011 season, and even more so this year. In a conference superior to all others, the Vols are starting 18 underclassmen on both sides of the ball combined. There were high expectations for several freshman and transfers this season, many of them have been good as expected, but you may be surprised which guys have been stepping up and disappearing thus far this season.

Listen to the comments of the Texas A&M President as well as those of SEC commissioner Mike Slive in their introduction of the Aggies to the conference.

Who would have thought that nearly two calendar years after Lane Kiffin bolted Knoxville the fires he left would continue to smolder?  On Monday Yahoo! Sports reported that former Kiffin assistant, Willie Mack Garza, paid for a recruit and his mother to fly to Knoxville on an unofficial visit.  As you might expect, that would be an NCAA violation.