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Fail to beat Vanderbilt, and you likely aren’t heading to a bowl at the end of the season.
That seems to be the rule of thumb in recent history, but it hasn’t extended to other SEC teams the past two years. That all changed Saturday, when the Commodores got coach Derek Mason his first conference win against Missouri. As a result, the main bowl prognosticators left the Tigers off their postseason projections.
The SEC East, in general, isn’t favoring well in national bowl projections. In addition to Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt were left off completely. The SEC West, in comparison, has all its teams listed as going to a bowl by at least one major outlet.
Here are this week’s collective bowl projections:
ALABAMA
CBS Sports: Cotton Bowl vs. TCU (playoff semifinal)
ESPN: Cotton Bowl vs. Ohio State (Schlabach); College Football Playoff National Championship vs. Clemson (Schlabach); Sugar Bowl vs. TCU (McMurphy)
SDS: Sugar Bowl vs. Michigan State
ARKANSAS
ESPN: Music City Bowl vs. Northwestern (Schlabach); Belk Bowl vs. North Carolina State (McMurphy)
SDS: Birmingham Bowl vs. Houston
AUBURN
CBS Sports: Birmingham Bowl vs. Cincinnati
ESPN: Birmingham Bowl vs. Cincinnati (Schlabach); Birmingham Bowl vs. East Carolina (McMurphy)
SDS: Texas Bowl vs. West Virginia
FLORIDA
CBS Sports: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan
ESPN: Peach Bowl vs. Memphis (Schlabach); Fiesta Bowl vs. Notre Dame (McMurphy)
SDS: Peach Bowl vs. Memphis
GEORGIA
CBS Sports: TaxSlayer Bowl vs. North Carolina
ESPN: Outback Bowl vs. Penn State (Schlabach); Texas Bowl vs. West Virginia (McMurphy)
SDS: TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Penn State
KENTUCKY
CBS Sports: Heart of Dallas Bowl vs. Oregon
ESPN: Liberty Bowl vs. Texas
SDS: Liberty Bowl vs. Texas
LSU
CBS Sports: Sugar Bowl vs. Baylor:
ESPN: Sugar Bowl vs. TCU (Schlabach); Peach Bowl vs. Memphis (McMurphy)
SDS: Cotton Bowl vs. Baylor (playoff semifinal)
MISSISSIPPI STATE
CBS Sports: Music City Bowl vs. Penn State
ESPN: TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Louisville (Schlabach); Outback Bowl vs. Iowa (McMurphy)
SDS: Belk Bowl vs. North Carolina State
OLE MISS
CBS Sports: Belk Bowl vs. North Carolina State
ESPN: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan
SDS: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan
TENNESSEE
CBS Sports: Liberty Bowl vs. Kansas State
ESPN: Belk Bowl vs. Duke (Schlabach); Music City Bowl vs. Minnesota (McMurphy)
SDS: Music City Bowl vs. North Carolina
TEXAS A&M
CBS Sports: Outback Bowl vs. Northwestern
ESPN: Texas Bowl vs. Texas Tech (Schlabach); TaxSlayer Bowl vs. North Carolina
SDS: Outback Bowl vs. Iowa
Mike Shaw is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers SEC football, Missouri, Texas A&M and Arkansas. Follow Mike on Twitter @michaelvshaw
