The Bowl Outlook With Two Weeks To Play
November 20th, 2009 ║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink ║ Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
With two weeks to play, the SEC’s bowl picture is as blurry now as it was a month ago.
Florida and Alabama have been dominant and both have run away from the pack. On the other end of spectrum, Vanderbilt is the only SEC team already eliminated from the bowl picture.
The other nine teams in the league are still jockeying for position. With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of what each team has left between now and bowl bid time in two weeks:
| School |
Week 12 Opp. |
Week 13 Opp. |
SEC Title Game |
Best Case Record |
Worst Case Record |
| ALABAMA |
Chattanooga |
at Auburn |
Florida |
13-0 |
10-3 |
| ARKANSAS |
Miss. State |
at LSU |
8-4 |
6-6 |
|
| AUBURN |
Alabama |
8-4 |
7-5 |
||
| FLORIDA |
FIU |
Fla. State |
Alabama |
13-0 |
10-3 |
| GEORGIA |
Kentucky |
at Ga. Tech |
8-4 |
6-6 |
|
| KENTUCKY |
at Georgia |
Tennessee |
8-4 |
6-6 |
|
| LSU |
at Ole Miss |
Arkansas |
10-2 |
8-4 |
|
| MISS. STATE |
at Arkansas |
Ole Miss |
6-6 |
4-8 |
|
| OLE MISS |
LSU |
at Miss. State |
9-3 |
7-5 |
|
| S. CAROLINA |
Clemson |
7-5 |
6-6 |
||
| TENNESSEE |
Vanderbilt |
at Kentucky |
7-5 |
5-7 |
|
| VANDERBILT |
at Tennessee |
3-9 |
2-10 |
We’ll dive into the prediction game at this point, but don’t go putting any money on these picks. My views are likely to change a whole lot come Sunday morning.
BCS Title Game (vs Texas)
ALABAMA, 13-0
Florida got the Tide last year, this year I’ll take Bama to exact revenge.
Sugar Bowl (vs TCU)
FLORIDA, 12-1
But I could see the SEC title game going the other way, too
Capital One Bowl (vs Penn State)
LSU, 9-3
The Capital One committee would love this matchup for attendance and TV purposes
Outback Bowl (vs Wisconsin)
Ole Miss, 8-4
I believe this is a year when the Outback will request a West Division team due to their better record
Cotton Bowl (vs Nebraska)
Tennessee, 7-5
When the Cotton Bowl goes with an East Division team, it’s usually Tennessee
Chick-fil-A Bowl (vs Clemson)
Auburn, 7-5
The Tigers played Clemson in this bowl just two years ago, but this one still seems to make sense from an attendance standpoint
Music City Bowl (vs North Carolina)
South Carolina, 7-5
How can the folks in Nashville pass up a game that was SUPPOSED to start next year’s schedule?
Liberty Bowl (vs East Carolina)
Georgia, 7-5
I think an upset Georgia fanbase will be seen as less likely to travel, thus the Dawgs fall all the way to the Liberty
Independence Bowl (vs Kansas State)
Arkansas, 7-5
It’s unlikely, but an Iowa State-Auburn matchup would be interesting here, wouldn’t it?
(UPDATE — I had a typo on my spreadsheet that has now been corrected… Arkansas is currently 6-4, not 5-7. Logic was right, record in table was wrong.)
Papajohns.com Bowl (vs West Virginia)
Kentucky, 6-6
At least the Wildcats will go somewhere south of Tennessee this year
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