Alabama barely hung on. Georgia had no such concerns.

The top 2 teams in the Associated Press poll, and the top 2 in our bowl projections, had different paths to remaining undefeated as they both won their SEC openers.

The Crimson Tide escaped The Swamp by beating Florida, whereas the Bulldogs cruised past South Carolina.

Both are still projected into the College Football Playoff, and we’re still keeping Florida into the New Year’s Day 6 after Saturday’s loss. Texas A&M also is still pegged for a major bowl.

As for the rest of the SEC, most of the teams cruised against overmatched competition. Mississippi State’s bowl hopes took a blow with a loss (though not a shocking one) to Memphis, and the league’s other team to take a nonconference loss, Vanderbilt, wasn’t projected to a bowl anyway.

As always, we remind you that this is not based on where teams are now in the standings, but where we think they will be come the postseason.

The Citrus Bowl has the pick of SEC teams after the conference’s CFP and NYD 6 spots are filled. The next 6 bowls are treated equally: The Gator, Outback, Duke’s Mayo, Liberty, Gator, Texas and Music City bowls. The Birmingham Bowl selects after that group if there are any bowl-eligible SEC teams left.

Here are our SEC bowl projections:

Bowl
Date
Location
Matchup
Orange (CFP semi)
Dec. 31
Miami
Alabama vs. Clemson
Cotton (CFP semi)
Dec. 31
Arlington, Texas
Georgia vs. Oklahoma
Sugar
Jan. 1
New Orleans
Texas A&M vs. Iowa State
Peach
Dec. 30
Atlanta
Florida vs. Cincinnati
Texas
Jan. 4
Houston
Arkansas vs. Okla. St.
Citrus
Jan. 1
Orlando
Ole Miss vs. Iowa
Outback
Jan. 1
Tampa
Auburn vs. Wisconsin
Gator
Dec. 31
Jacksonville
LSU vs. N.C. State
Duke’s Mayo
Dec. 30
Charlotte
Miss. St. vs. Va. Tech
Music City
Dec. 30
Nashville
Missouri vs. Mich. St.
Liberty
Dec. 28
Memphis
Kentucky vs. Kansas St.
Birmingham
Dec. 28
Birmingham
Tennessee vs. Virginia