Jacksonville , Fla. ? Florida defensive end Jeremy Mincey spent last weekend at home in Georgia, hoping to enjoy a few days away from football.

No chance. At least not in Statesboro, Ga., where he found himself surrounded by devout Bulldogs fans.

“It’s all they talked about: Bulldogs, Bulldogs, Bulldogs,” Mincey said. “I don’t want to hear about the Bulldogs. My own aunt was against me.”

Mincey had one response for his friends and family: “Get ready to be a Gator fan.”

The annual football celebration known as the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party strains relationships and fosters hostility well beyond the two border states. It also could define this season for No. 4 Georgia and No. 16 Florida.

“This is the game of the year,” Gators linebacker Todd McCullough said. “It’s my favorite game as a player. It was my favorite game as a young child. … I wish I could play the Florida-Georgia game every day for the rest of my life.”

This one could be memorable, especially considering the stakes.

The Bulldogs can clinch the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division with a victory and secure a spot in the title game for the third time in four years. Georgia (7-0, 5-0 SEC) also would keep alive its national title hopes.

“The way we’re sitting right now, this game has huge implications in the East,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said. “Have you ever heard the term, ‘So close and yet so far?’ We’re very close. With a victory, we win it. With a loss, we’re very, very far away from it.”

Florida (5-2, 3-2) could spoil the Bulldogs’ bid and stay in the hunt for the East title. If the Gators win today, they would need to beat Vanderbilt and South Carolina and have Auburn knock off Georgia in two weeks to get to the championship game.

A loss against Georgia would leave the Gators out of the SEC title game for a fifth consecutive season and raise more questions about the school’s foundering football program, especially considering Florida would be in the same spot under coach Urban Meyer that it was for three years under Ron Zook — playing for a second-tier bowl berth.

“Our goal is to compete for the SEC championship in November,” Meyer said. “Obviously, this one would end it. … We’re all well aware of the implications of this game.”

The Gators have won 13 of the last 15 in the series, a dominating run that began with coach Steve Spurrier’s arrival at Florida in 1990. He knocked off Georgia six straight times with Ray Goff at the helm and had a 4-1 edge on Jim Donnan before winning his lone meeting against Richt in 2001.

Even after Spurrier left for the NFL, the Gators kept winning. Zook beat Georgia his first two years, including a 2002 upset that was the Bulldogs’ only loss and perhaps denied them a chance to play for the national championship.

Richt got his first win over Florida last year, a 31-24 victory that came just days after the Gators fired Zook, who agreed to coach the final four games.

The Bulldogs are looking for back-to-back wins in the series for the first time since 1988-89. They will try to do it with a backup quarterback making his first start against Florida.

Joe Tereshinski III will start in place of D.J. Shockley, the top-rated passer in the conference who sprained his left knee against Arkansas last week.