At a time when college football season’s postseason appears to be in flux, one group is considering birthing a brand new bowl game.  Forget the new playoff that’s now being debated/discussed.  Forget that some school presidents have been talking about raising the win-level for bowl-eligible teams, a move which would result in a cut back in the current number of bowls.  Folks in Show-Me State want a bowl game.

According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Sports Commission is exploring the feasibility of bringing a bowl to the city.  And the group’s president, Frank Viveritos, already believes the perfect matchup would be an SEC-Big Ten showdown:

“If we were able to produce a wish-list game, that would be the one.  If the SEC is making a commitment to the University of Missouri, then this is a market we would like to help them develop for the league…

We want to get meaningful conference tie-ins.  We want to have an event that would be considered a home run for the region in every way.”

Currently the group is gauging how much support a bowl game would get from the city and how much money the game would have to pay out to participants.  The more money going to teams, the better the conference tie-ins.  The better the conference tie-ins, the better the media exposure and tourism revenue for St. Louis.

The city of St. Louis is also expected to bid for at least one upcoming SEC basketball tournament.  And SEC commissioner Mike Slive has recently been talking about finding new bowl partnerships for his just-expanded league.  So a St. Louis bowl tied to the Southeastern Conference seems like a natural at this point.

We also don’t believe that in the end of discussions bowl-eligibility qualifications will indeed be raised.  For every school president at Alabama or Ohio State or Oregon who knows they’ll go bowling each season, there are two from Utah State or even Mississippi State who need a six-win cut-off if they’re to rake in some extra exposure — which leads to more cash, better recruiting and better football in the long run — by going bowling each year.  That’s no knock on MSU, their own AD, Scott Stricklin, has admitted that he’s against a nine-game SEC schedule because it might knock State from future bowl games.  Would he or his boss be in favor then of raising bowl-eligibility standards?  We think not.

For that reason, we would be surprised to see the number of bowl games snipped.  A better way of handling things on that end might be to require games to hit a higher minimum payout, anyway.  Such a move would either reduce the current number of games by just a few or lead to the replacement of smaller games by larger ones.  Like, say, one in St. Louis.

If there is room for a bowl on the Mississippi, the Big Ten does make sense as an SEC foe.  Unfortunately those two leagues already have tie-ins in three other games: Capital One Bowl, Outback Bowl and Gator Bowl.  For that reason, it already seems that Georgia and Michigan State, for example, have met in a Florida bowl for about nine of the last 10 years, doesn’t it?

We get that “Big Ten versus SEC” would be a better draw for the city and that’s what bowls are all about in the first place — tourism.  Cities don’t hold these games because they just like ‘em some football.

But in a perfect world, the SEC would line-up a new game with a brand new bowl partner.  St. Louis is the Gateway to the West.  Wouldn’t an SEC versus Pac-12 matchup be infinitely more interesting in a new Gateway Bowl?  Heck, even an SEC-Big 12 game would be a better compromise, possibly pitting Missouri against one of its old Big 12 rivals if things broke the right way.

But then, what the heck is ever perfect about college football’s postseason?

1.  A pair of Florida footballers who announced they were last October have decided to join former Gator coach Charlie Strong at Louisville.

2.  Billy Donovan’s guards are having a big year even though they’re not scoring big points.

3.  Georgia AD Greg McGarity says the Dawgs loss in the Outback Bowl won’t have an impact on his contract negotiations with Mark Richt.

4.  Kentucky is out-rebounding its foes at a ridiculous clip.

5.  A state senator from Louisville is pushing a bill that would require the Cats and Cards to meet in football and basketball each year.

6.  Steve Spurrier says Carolina will “try to have a big year next year.”

7.  Tennessee got “out-toughed” in a 69-51 loss at Memphis last night.

8.  James Franklin was pleased with the number of Vanderbilt supporters who showed up at the Liberty Bowl.

1.  Florida wraps up its pre-SEC hoops slate against UAB tonight.

2.  A pair of special teams’ TDs help Florida pull off a Gator Bowl win and now things seem a little bit better in Gainesville.

3.  Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray says his team “could have pulled out a couple more wins,” including yesterday’s Outback Bowl.

4.  Several Bulldogs now need to make decisions about the NFL.

5.  John Calipari believes Kentucky’s Terrence Jones needs to start having more fun on the court.

6.  UK’s coach also wants his team to be more unselfish.

7.  Following a Capital One Bowl victory over Nebraska, safety DJ Swearinger said, “We go down in history as the best team to play at Carolina.”

8.  Receiver Alshon Jeffery was at his best in earning MVP honors yesterday in Orlando.  Oddly, he was also ejected for fighting making him the first ejected MVP I have ever seen.

9.  Derek Dooley said today that the worst is behind Tennessee and now the progress begins.

10.  The Vol basketball team fired up 39 3-pointers in a 76-63 win over Chattanooga last night.

11.  Speaking of shooting threes, John Jenkins scored 26 points to lead Vanderbilt to a 69-62 win over Miami (Ohio).

12.  Kevin Stallings said his team has developed a habit of playing poor second-half defense.

UPDATE – Florida has hired Jeff Dillman as the football program’s new strength coach.

Oh, what a missed field goal can bring.

Georgia’s fans watched in horror yesterday as the Bulldogs coaching staff went conservative with a 27-20 lead late in the Outback Bowl.  Mark Richt had been on the attack all season long with fourth-down gambles and Aaron Murray deep balls.  But with the game on the line, UGA’s braintrust puckered.  The offense went conservative.  The defense went into a prevent zone that allowed Michigan State to march 85 yards in less than two minutes.  Tie game.  27-27.  Overtime.

But in overtime, Georgia caught a break, picking off its third pass of the day from Spartan quarterback Kirk Cousins on MSU’s first possession.  Remarkably, the Dawgs went conservative again.  They appeared to be fine and dandy with a 42-yard field goal attempt from inconsistent kicker Blair Walsh.  Bad move.  He missed.

Overtime continued and you know the rest of the story — Michigan State 33, Georgia 30.

And everything has now changed in the Peach State as a result of that missed potential game-winner.

Up 16-0 at the half on a Top 5 defense, most Georgia fans were saying things like this: “You know, 11 wins this year, easy schedule next year, I really think we’re sitting pretty when it comes to winning the national title!”

After the loss — at least on the UGA messageboards — the talk changed to this:  “You know, we didn’t beat a good team all season.  10 wins against teams we should beat and then another bowl choke.  Nothing’s changed.”

A bowl loss is the worse thing in the world.  Instead of an offseason of positive dreaming, negative grumbling fills the airwaves.  Richt will get his contract extension from Georgia… as he should.

But if the coach’s status were left to fans — after yesterday’s loss — Richt’s seat really wouldn’t be all that much cooler entering 2012.  Especially with the Dawgs’ much-maligned schedule.

His conservatism and a missed field goal will have a lot of Georgians saying that Richt had better win big next season.  Or else many folks will be right back calling for his head.

There’s nothing like the mood swing after a bowl loss.

1.  Auburn slipped past Florida A&M 76-69 last night, but Tony Barbee isn’t happy his team plays down to the level of its competition.

2.  Might AU use a “mystery tailback” in the Chick-fil-A Bowl?

3.  Alabama is getting back to basics for its bowl preps.

4.  Outgoing offensive coordinator Jim McElwain got emotional when Nick Saban praised him to the team during practice… and the team responded with applause.

5.  Freshman quarterback Brandon Allen is drawing praise at Arkansas during bowl practice.

6.  Will tailback Knile Davis play in the Cotton Bowl and burn a medical redshirt?  Will he return next year?  Or turn pro?  No one’s saying.

7.  Of LSU’s two All-American cornerbacks, Morris Claiborne is the low-key one.

8.  MSU’s linebacking corps jelled as the season played out.

9.  Quarterback Tyler Russell will play through the pain of an MCL sprain in the Music City Bowl.

10.  Mississippi’s Hugh Freeze and his staff of five assistants are trying to play catch-up on the recruiting trail.

11.  The Rebels’ new head coach said yesterday that he’ll be calling plays next season… even though he still might give someone else the “offensive coordinator” title.

12.  In hindsight, Will Muschamp says he should have put his first Florida team through a more physical August camp.

13.  The roundball Gators whooped up on Mississippi Valley State 82-54 last night.

14.  Georgia has wrapped up the on-campus part of its Outback Bowl preps.

15.  The Dawgs want to make amends for last season’s bowl loss to UCF when they face Michigan State.

16.  Mark Fox’s basketball team hosts Mercer tonight.

17.  Kentucky’s Darius Miller says he’s been rushing the 3-point shot.

18.  John Calipari is trying to create a “Breakfast Club” on his Wildcat team.  (That’s my cue to do this for those of you who are children of the ’80s.)

19.  UK and the city of Lexington continue to differ over the future of Rupp Arena.

20.  Melvin Ingram told fellow Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney to “keep pushing” through the freshman wall.

21.  When Ellis Johnson is announced as Southern Miss’ new head coach, Steve Spurrier will lose a solid recruiter.

22.  Tennessee may be on a four-game losing streak but Cuonzo Martin is “sticking to the script.”

23.  Martin also won’t cut Trae Golden’s minutes just because he’s got a broken nose.

24.  Vanderbilt got a 29-point performance from Jeffery Taylor — who was coming off a bad stomach bug — in a 99-71 win over Longwood last night.

25.  It looks like Cincinnati will have a healthy Zach Collaros at quarterback when they face the Commodores in the Liberty Bowl.

1.  Freshman Bradley Beal already looks comfortable at Florida… what with that 15.2 points-per-game average.

2.  Erik Murphy will be back in the Gators’ starting lineup tonight.

3.  Prepping to meet Michigan State in the Outback Bowl, Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham remember his own three years in East Lansing.

4.  This writer puts odds on which UGA underclassmen will turn pro.

5.  John Calipari was happy with the play of point guard Marquis Teague this weekend.

6.  For freshman All-American defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, his best days at South Carolina are ahead of him.

7.  It doesn’t show in the record, but this writer says Tennessee’s hoopsters are making progress.

8.  Vanderbilt will hope to get more than 15 combined points from John Jenkins and Festus Ezeli tonight against Longwood.

9.  Alabama is a healthier team as it resumes preparations for the BCS Championship Game…

10.  And it resumes those preps today.

11.  One area of consistency for Auburn in 2011?  Punter Steven Clark.

12.  The basketball Tigers will face Florida A&M tonight before heading to Hawaii for Christmas.

13.  You can probably forget finding cheap tickets to the BCS title game.  (Duh.)

14.  Trent Johnson’s Tigers have won four in a row, but tonight they host #11 Marquette.

15.  Linebacker Ferlando Bohanna — now that’s a name — gives Mississippi State options moving forward.

UPDATE – The SEC has named its Players of the Week.

UPDATE/BONUS — We usually don’t cover baseball, but the league announced today that the SEC tourney will go from 8 to 10 teams in May.

1.  The AP has handed out its postseason All-SEC honors and awards.

2.  A look inside the Harris Poll vote — part of the BCS system — might scare you.

3.  Auburn fans are trying to get the skinny on bowl opponent Virginia.

4.  One Heisman pundit says Alabama’s Trent Richardson would have won the award… had he played last Saturday.

5.  The Cotton Bowl was a good landing spot for Arkansas.

6.  LSU will do some healing up over the next month.

7.  Les Miles is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year award.

8.  Florida will get a tough test from Arizona tomorrow night.

9.  There are a lot of similarities between Georgia and Michigan State heading into the Outback Bowl.

10.  John Calipari says he’s only looking out for his team — which he says will always be filled with young players — in deciding to drop a rivalry game with either Indiana, Louisville or North Carolina.

11.  South Carolina supporters are studying up on bowl opponent Nebraska.

12.  Tennessee’s compliance department is reminding car dealers not to give Vol athletes any special deals.

13.  James Franklin says the fact that Vanderbilt didn’t have a first-team All-SEC selection shows what a great job his staff did this year.

What has been expected for weeks and was reported on Monday has finally been confirmed today.  The NFL has informed Florida officials that free safety Will Hill is leaving school early to jump to the professional game.

New Gator coach Will Muschamp wished Hill well in a press release.  “Although I didn’t have a chance to coach Will Hill, we certainly wish him the best of luck in the NFL.  Like all of our players, we hope he understands the value of his education and returns to get his degree.”

Hill did not start in the Outback Bowl win over Penn State.

Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins has surprised Gator Nation by announcing his decision to return to Gainesville for his senior season.

“After careful consideration, I’ve made a decision to return to school for my senior year,” he said via press release.  “I spent some time with my family and Coach Muschamp and came to the conclusion it was in my best interest to return to school.  Coach Muschamp was very supportive throughout the whole process, regardless of my decision, but he wanted to make sure I had all the facts.  I’m looking forward to working towards my degree, completing my rehab and getting back on the field with my teammates.”

Jenkins had been projected as a first-round pick in April’s NFL draft.  He has been ranked as high as the third-best cornerback in the draft.  He was also the Gators’ best punt returner in 2010.

Last week, ESPN.com’s Joe Schad wrote that a source had told him that Jenkins would be turning pro.

Jenkins missed the Outback Bowl due to shoulder surgery, thus the comment about completing his rehab.

SEC fans should hope Florida’s corner can remain healthy in 2011.  Anytime a star SEC player passes up sure dollars in the pros in order to stay in college, it’s a bonus for league fans.  Best of luck to Jenkins in the year ahead.

You can add the name Janoris Jenkins to the growing list of SEC underclassmen heading to the NFL.  ESPN.com’s Joe Schad reported late last night that “a source close to the decision” confirmed Jenkins’ plan yesterday.

Jenkins missed the Outback Bowl due to a right shoulder injury that required surgery in December.  It’s long been expected that he would leave school early.

ESPN’s Todd McShay ranks him as the 11th best prospect in the upcoming NFL drat and the third-best corner.