Hello Sports fans, a couple of weeks ago I played a little bit with bowl projections. Since that time 2 more teams have become bowl eligible while two other teams have gotten to the do or die 
games, so that makes the bowl picture a little bit easier to analyze. I have also learned a little bit about the selection process in the past couple of weeks as well. The BCS is designed to find the true best in college football, it is flawed but so is Erin Andrews (I personally haven’t seen those flaws but my wife says they are there). For the purpose of choosing the Nation’s № 1 team the BCS has to go by rankings and computer programs as well as quality of wins. However other bowls have a little bit more freedom of choice and although some are tied to conference rankings, they also will work with the other bowls to get the best fit for each host city. For example, Atlanta would like to choose a team that is close enough to bring a lot of fans but far enough away that those fans have to stay in town for several nights, such as LSU or Ole Miss, Georgia fans however would tend to make a day trip out of a Chick-Fil-A bid. These extended stays in towns allow for shopping, eating out, and of course night life, all of which improves the host city’s economy. In any event, I thought it would be a good time to revisit those bowl possibilities and do what we do best….second guess ourselves.
Once again to make it easier I will begin at BCS bowls and work outward from there. The possibilities get numerous as we go down the list. I feel that with the polls looking as they do at this moment the SEC is almost assured of getting 2 teams into BCS bowls, starting with the BCS National Championship Game. As things stand right now, Alabama is the № 1 team in the nation and they earned it. The Florida Gators are playing some of the best football in the nation, but they haven’t earned that top spot. I am not playing pick-em in this article so I won’t attempt to predict a winner in the SEC Championship game….YET! For this reason I will stick to my earlier projection of placing Alabama in the BCS Championship Game which will also put Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
The next bowl tied in with the SEC is the Capital One Bowl which would normally have the choice of the SEC #2 team, However if the SEC places two teams in the BCS then all teams get to step up one rung on the ladder. Georgia will get the nod for this prestigious bowl as their SEC schedule is complete and they have locked up the #3 spot in the conference. This fit also plays in well with the location of this game; Orlando Florida.
The next bowl on the pecking order is the Outback Bowl. I think at this point one has to look at schedules, South Carolina at this moment still looks pretty good for this bowl, but with the loss to Florida last week, the Gamecock rivalry with Clemson is now much more important. If South Carolina loses to Clemson then this could open the door for the winner of this week's Magnolia Bowl (Ole Miss/LSU game). The Outback is located in Tampa Florida which may make it more attractive to bowl officials to pick the Tigers or Rebels. South Carolina fans travel real well though so this is just a small side story. At this moment I will stick by my earlier projection of South Carolina in the Outback bowl.
Here of course is where the real speculation begins and of course a whole bunch of “What If’s”. The Cotton Bowl is one of the Nation’s longest running bowl games and a favorite amongst SEC fans. Being the bigger school and well within the range of bringing a passel of fans, LSU seems like the best fit for this bowl at the moment. However the Cotton Bowl as well as Dallas wants to get the most bang for their buck I am sure. With that said, a Rebel win in this weekend’s Ole Miss versus LSU match could send the Rebs to Big D. Another possibility of course is if LSU wins this weekend but loses in their season finale with Arkansas, Vanderbilt could perceivably slide into the Cotton. Right now though, I have to place LSU in Dallas.
The Chick-Fil-A bowl is a good choice for the Ole Miss Rebels. They haven’t been bowling since 2003 so the fans are in a bowl frenzy. As a season ticket holder to Ole Miss, I have my finger on the pulse of the fan base. They may be a little bit split over which bowl they would prefer, but there is one thing they all have in common; No matter where the Rebels go, they are going with them. For this reason Atlanta should be pleased to get Ole Miss, the fans would travel well as well as being far enough away as to probably make a weeklong winter vacation out of the trip. This bowl is a possibility for the Rebels even if they win the Magnolia Bowl trophy this weekend since Dallas may still choose the larger school; LSU. Vanderbilt is also in the mix for this game as well, but being a much smaller fan base I don’t see them traveling quite as well as Ole Miss. The Rebels go to Hot-Lanta.
For the past two years, the Music City Bowl in Nashville Tennessee has picked the Kentucky Wildcats. With the list of bowl eligible teams dwindling down, I think the MCB will once again get Kentucky. It is good travel for the Cat fans and the city of Nashville knows this by the past two years attendance. Once again though, the “What If’s” play a big factor in this one, but that is what makes college football so great. All of this speculation will work itself out on the field. Kentucky to Nashville.
I look for the Vanderbilt Commodores to travel to Memphis to take on the CUSA champion. The Commodore fans are bowl eligible for the first time since 1982 so I think their fans will show up in force to support the team. Unfortunately there is no evidence of this to bowl committees. I actually think the Music City Bowl is a much better fit for Vandy than the Liberty, records wise, but like I stated earlier, the bowls will work together to get fans to stay in motels, shop in malls, and eat in restaurants. Memphis is not far from Nashville, but it is more likely to produce extended stays than Nashville itself.
The last two SEC bowls are the Independence and the PapaJohns.com bowl. At this moment I cannot predict any more bowl eligible teams so these bowls will probably, have to choose from At-Large bids to fill the spots. There is so many intangibles that can occur between now and bowl season, that it is impossible for any pundit to project the final outcome. But it is fun to speculate and possibly start with some preliminary hotel reservations.
In summary here are my projections as of the moment:
BCS National Championship Game: Alabama
Sugar Bowl: Florida
Capital One Bowl: Georgia
Outback Bowl: South Carolina
Cotton Bowl: LSU
Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Ole Miss
Music City Bowl: Kentucky
Liberty Bowl: Vanderbilt
Independence Bowl: ???
PapaJohns.COM Bowl: ???
This weekend is a rare slow weekend for the SEC with a bunch of the schools taking the week before “Rivalry Week” off. There is a small altercation set to take place in Baton Rouge though, the newly named “Magnolia Bowl” between Ole Miss and LSU that is sure to help solidify the bowl picture. Comeback on Friday as I will go over the games and give my predictions. Until Then….Hotty Toddy!
Darryle “Speedy” Clark
games, so that makes the bowl picture a little bit easier to analyze. I have also learned a little bit about the selection process in the past couple of weeks as well. The BCS is designed to find the true best in college football, it is flawed but so is Erin Andrews (I personally haven’t seen those flaws but my wife says they are there). For the purpose of choosing the Nation’s № 1 team the BCS has to go by rankings and computer programs as well as quality of wins. However other bowls have a little bit more freedom of choice and although some are tied to conference rankings, they also will work with the other bowls to get the best fit for each host city. For example, Atlanta would like to choose a team that is close enough to bring a lot of fans but far enough away that those fans have to stay in town for several nights, such as LSU or Ole Miss, Georgia fans however would tend to make a day trip out of a Chick-Fil-A bid. These extended stays in towns allow for shopping, eating out, and of course night life, all of which improves the host city’s economy. In any event, I thought it would be a good time to revisit those bowl possibilities and do what we do best….second guess ourselves.Once again to make it easier I will begin at BCS bowls and work outward from there. The possibilities get numerous as we go down the list. I feel that with the polls looking as they do at this moment the SEC is almost assured of getting 2 teams into BCS bowls, starting with the BCS National Championship Game. As things stand right now, Alabama is the № 1 team in the nation and they earned it. The Florida Gators are playing some of the best football in the nation, but they haven’t earned that top spot. I am not playing pick-em in this article so I won’t attempt to predict a winner in the SEC Championship game….YET! For this reason I will stick to my earlier projection of placing Alabama in the BCS Championship Game which will also put Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
The next bowl tied in with the SEC is the Capital One Bowl which would normally have the choice of the SEC #2 team, However if the SEC places two teams in the BCS then all teams get to step up one rung on the ladder. Georgia will get the nod for this prestigious bowl as their SEC schedule is complete and they have locked up the #3 spot in the conference. This fit also plays in well with the location of this game; Orlando Florida.
The next bowl on the pecking order is the Outback Bowl. I think at this point one has to look at schedules, South Carolina at this moment still looks pretty good for this bowl, but with the loss to Florida last week, the Gamecock rivalry with Clemson is now much more important. If South Carolina loses to Clemson then this could open the door for the winner of this week's Magnolia Bowl (Ole Miss/LSU game). The Outback is located in Tampa Florida which may make it more attractive to bowl officials to pick the Tigers or Rebels. South Carolina fans travel real well though so this is just a small side story. At this moment I will stick by my earlier projection of South Carolina in the Outback bowl.
Here of course is where the real speculation begins and of course a whole bunch of “What If’s”. The Cotton Bowl is one of the Nation’s longest running bowl games and a favorite amongst SEC fans. Being the bigger school and well within the range of bringing a passel of fans, LSU seems like the best fit for this bowl at the moment. However the Cotton Bowl as well as Dallas wants to get the most bang for their buck I am sure. With that said, a Rebel win in this weekend’s Ole Miss versus LSU match could send the Rebs to Big D. Another possibility of course is if LSU wins this weekend but loses in their season finale with Arkansas, Vanderbilt could perceivably slide into the Cotton. Right now though, I have to place LSU in Dallas.
The Chick-Fil-A bowl is a good choice for the Ole Miss Rebels. They haven’t been bowling since 2003 so the fans are in a bowl frenzy. As a season ticket holder to Ole Miss, I have my finger on the pulse of the fan base. They may be a little bit split over which bowl they would prefer, but there is one thing they all have in common; No matter where the Rebels go, they are going with them. For this reason Atlanta should be pleased to get Ole Miss, the fans would travel well as well as being far enough away as to probably make a weeklong winter vacation out of the trip. This bowl is a possibility for the Rebels even if they win the Magnolia Bowl trophy this weekend since Dallas may still choose the larger school; LSU. Vanderbilt is also in the mix for this game as well, but being a much smaller fan base I don’t see them traveling quite as well as Ole Miss. The Rebels go to Hot-Lanta.
For the past two years, the Music City Bowl in Nashville Tennessee has picked the Kentucky Wildcats. With the list of bowl eligible teams dwindling down, I think the MCB will once again get Kentucky. It is good travel for the Cat fans and the city of Nashville knows this by the past two years attendance. Once again though, the “What If’s” play a big factor in this one, but that is what makes college football so great. All of this speculation will work itself out on the field. Kentucky to Nashville.
I look for the Vanderbilt Commodores to travel to Memphis to take on the CUSA champion. The Commodore fans are bowl eligible for the first time since 1982 so I think their fans will show up in force to support the team. Unfortunately there is no evidence of this to bowl committees. I actually think the Music City Bowl is a much better fit for Vandy than the Liberty, records wise, but like I stated earlier, the bowls will work together to get fans to stay in motels, shop in malls, and eat in restaurants. Memphis is not far from Nashville, but it is more likely to produce extended stays than Nashville itself.
The last two SEC bowls are the Independence and the PapaJohns.com bowl. At this moment I cannot predict any more bowl eligible teams so these bowls will probably, have to choose from At-Large bids to fill the spots. There is so many intangibles that can occur between now and bowl season, that it is impossible for any pundit to project the final outcome. But it is fun to speculate and possibly start with some preliminary hotel reservations.
In summary here are my projections as of the moment:
BCS National Championship Game: Alabama
Sugar Bowl: Florida
Capital One Bowl: Georgia
Outback Bowl: South Carolina
Cotton Bowl: LSU
Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Ole Miss
Music City Bowl: Kentucky
Liberty Bowl: Vanderbilt
Independence Bowl: ???
PapaJohns.COM Bowl: ???
This weekend is a rare slow weekend for the SEC with a bunch of the schools taking the week before “Rivalry Week” off. There is a small altercation set to take place in Baton Rouge though, the newly named “Magnolia Bowl” between Ole Miss and LSU that is sure to help solidify the bowl picture. Comeback on Friday as I will go over the games and give my predictions. Until Then….Hotty Toddy!
Darryle “Speedy” Clark
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