In the 12-team College Football Playoff Era, not qualifying for a bowl game is the ultimate measure of a season's failure. Not many SEC football fan bases are forced to deal with such embarrassing status, but it will likely happen again in 2025. Almost as bad for a fan base is when a team viewed as a CFP contender fails to make the 12-team field. Alabama football fans know that feeling all too well.
The good news for Alabama Crimson Tide fans is that most projections have Bama in the next Playoff field. Three other SEC football teams are also often projected as Playoff teams: Texas, Georgia, and LSU. On the margins of Playoff potential are Ole Miss, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. In a recent prediction, Athlon had four SEC teams making the Playoffs. The projected 1-seed was Texas, followed by 4-seed Georgia, 7-seed LSU, and 8-seed Alabama.
If the Athlon projection proves correct, there will be several very unhappy SEC football fan bases in December. Athlon has 10 of the SEC's non-Playoff teams in bowl games. The two, bottom-of-the-barrel SEC teams left out of postseason play are Kentucky and Mississippi State. For fans of the Wildcats and Bulldogs, hope for a good season will turn to basketball well before the football season ends.
How many fans of the SEC's 10 bowl teams will be happy about bowl trips? If Athlon is accurate, fans of the Vanderbilt Commodores certainly will be. The Dores have not made back-to-back bowl games since James Franklin was the head coach. They are projected to play Oregon State in the Independence Bowl. Shreveport does offer a casino (and not much else), but Vandy fans will happily make the trek.
Will there be another SEC fan base happy about a bowl game? Maybe some Arkansas fans will celebrate a trip to Birmingham for a game against USF. Perhaps a few Auburn fans will be satisfied that Hugh Freeze reached his season goal of making a bowl game, with the Tigers taking on Kansas in the Liberty Bowl. Otherwise, it is hard to believe any joy will come from SEC bowl games.
Other SEC Football Bowl Game Projections
- Gasparilla Bowl, Tampa FL - Missouri Tigers vs. North Carolina State
- Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, FL - Texas A&M Aggies vs. Georgia Tech
- Texas Bowl, Houston, TX - Oklahoma Sooners vs. Iowa State
- ReliaQuest Bowl, Tamps, FL - South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Indiana
- Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL - Florida Gators vs. Michigan
Saddest SEC Football Fans
Hopes and dreams crushed is the story for two teams. No Playoff game, followed by an undistinguished bowl game. Maybe for Tennessee fans, they will get to see Josh Heupel slathered by mayonnaise. Duke's better have a large jar.
- Duke's Mayo Bowl, Charlotte, NC - Tennessee Vols vs. SMU
- Music City Bowl, Nashville, TN - Ole Miss Rebels vs. Nebraska