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Bowl season is a college football fan’s dream. Starting on Dec. 19, there were 41 bowl games scheduled over 23 days.
It’s a tight schedule, made more so by the need for ESPN to avoid conflicts with NFL contests.
For the SEC, the 10-game (or 11, if things go well for the Crimson Tide) bowl slate is even more congested.
It’s a tight window for SEC fans with 10 games in five days, but it’s not a bad thing. Here’s why:
THE PRESTIGE
All bowl games have value. But some have more value than others.
The early bowls, games such as the New Mexico Bowl, Camellia Bowl and the Cure Bowl, are not quite as important in the grand scheme of things as the Cotton Bowl or Sugar Bowl.
It’s an honor to play in the big games on or around New Year’s Day, and the fact that SEC teams are bunched around that date can only be seen as a positive.
MINIMUM OVERLAP
Aside from New Year’s Day, when Tennessee and Florida will be playing at roughly the same time (noon and 1 p.m.), each of the SEC games fits into its own viewing window.
In fact, the biggest issue with a viewing conflict arrives on New Year’s Eve, when Alabama fans will have to include a TV in their plans to ring in 2016.
There are three games each on Dec. 30 and New Year’s Day, so plan accordingly.
MAKING A STATEMENT
The SEC school is favored in eight of the conference’s 10 contests — only Texas A&M and Florida are underdogs — so the condensed slate is a chance for the league to pile up some bowl wins with the maximum number of eyeballs tuned in.
In other words, the SEC can, in the span of five short days, remind college football fans which league is the nation’s best.
Some people (Big Ten fans, for example) need that sort of thing.
So clear your schedule as best you can and make plans to watch the last meaningful SEC football games until September.
Here’s a look at what’s on tap for the league in the next few days:
Tuesday, Dec. 29
Advocare V100 Texas Bowl
LSU vs. Texas Tech, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN
Wednesday, Dec. 30
Birmingham Bowl
Auburn vs. Memphis, Noon ET, ESPN
Belk Bowl
N.C. State vs. Mississippi State, 3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Music City Bowl
Texas A&M vs. Louisville, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Thursday, Dec. 31
Cotton Bowl
Michigan State vs. Alabama, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Friday, Dec. 1
Outback Bowl
Northwestern vs. Tennessee, noon ET, ESPN2
Citrus Bowl
Michigan vs. Florida, 1 p.m. ET, ABC
Sugar Bowl
Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Saturday, Jan. 2
TaxSlayer Bowl
Penn State vs. Georgia, noon ET, ESPN
Liberty Bowl
Kansas State vs. Arkansas, 3:20 p.m. ET, ESPN
Monday, Jan. 11
National Championship Game
Alabama/Michigan State winner vs. Clemson/Oklahoma winner, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN
Randy Capps is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, South Carolina and Georgia.
