SEC Bowl Scenarios Clear --- Sorta

The Southeastern Conference has 10 teams eligible for bowl games and nine contracts for league teams to participate. No problem. A second BCS invitation is virtually certain for the SEC, which would end up with every team other than Vandy and Ole Miss taking part in college football’s bloated post-season.

There are two scenarios for how everything will fit into place but those options only affect the top five teams in the league. The bottom five is pretty much locked in.

Mississippi State 8-4 ---- The Chick Fil-A Bowl ---- The Bulldogs are one of the most positive stories of SEC football this year. Dan Mullen in just his second year in Starkville guided his team to eight wins including one in The Swamp against his mentor. He has a tough assignment against the loser of the ACC Championship Game between FSU and Virginia Tech.

Florida 7-5 ---- The Gator Bowl ---- The Gators are a mixed bag for the folks in Jacksonville. You can probably count on a sellout with Florida in the mix, but you can also be assured the vast majority of fans will spend no more than two nights in town and probably less. The lure of Joe Paterno and Penn State is nice compensation.

Georgia 6-6 ---- The Liberty Bowl ---- The Bulldogs needed to win a shootout with Georgia Tech to be bowl eligible and their reward will be Beale Street and Graceland. They also have a great chance to finish above the .500 mark against the winner of UCF/SMU.

Tennessee 6-6 ---- The Music City Bowl ---- Vol fans will be much more excited about their nearby bowl trip than Gator fans. Not many thought this team was capable of six wins and Derek Dooley has a bunch of new friends as a result. North Carolina or Clemson makes sense here.

Kentucky 6-6 ---- BBVA Compass ---- Oh to be in Birmingham on January 8. That’s right this thriller will take place a week after New Year’s Day. That’s okay with the Wildcats. After spending three of the last four years in Nashville anything not in Tennessee would be a good thing. The USF Bulls make sense here since a Kentucky/Louisville rematch wouldn’t work.

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Obviously the top five comes down to the outcome of the SEC Championship Game. To make it simple, let’s assume Auburn wins and advances to the BCS Championship Game against Oregon.

Arkansas 10-2 ---- Sugar Bowl ---- The SEC will make certain that the Sugar Bowl replaces Auburn with a top 10 SEC team and Arkansas deserves it after beating LSU. The Razorbacks will show up in huge numbers and will likely take on Ohio State.

Alabama 9-3 ---- The Capital One Bowl ---- LSU has the better record, but they were in Orlando last year so this makes more sense. The Crimson Tide will bring a typically large following and face a surprising 10-1 Spartan squad from Michigan State. It’s not what Bama fans were hoping for, but it’s not bad.

LSU 10-2 ---- The Cotton Bowl ---- The Tigers should have plenty of supporters to make the trip to Dallas. Nice big name matchup for LSU against the loser of the Nebraska/Oklahoma Big 12 Title Game.

South Carolina 9-4 ---- The Outback Bowl ---- The boys in Tampa welcome Steve Spurrier to the place he first made his mark as a head coach with the Tampa Bay Bandits. Iowa is a solid opponent despite embarrassing itself with a season ending loss to coach-less Minnesota.

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Should South Carolina upset Auburn move the Gamecocks into the Sugar Bowl, Auburn to the Orange Bowl and LSU to the Outback.

Of course if Oregon loses, it messes a lot of this up. Keep in mind IF the Rose Bowl loses Oregon to the BCS Title Game it MUST take TCU unless TCU is also in that game. If Stanford is in the final top four of the BCS standings it MUST get a BCS Bowl invite.

No matter what, though the SEC and Big Ten are getting BCS at-large slots as is TCU. The only question is whether the 10th invite goes to Stanford and it probably will one way or the other.

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