*Apologies for the lack of posts today. I’m a little under the weather and have been bedridden most of the day. No live blog for basketball today since I’m not in Cancun.
A lot of speculation brewing around Lexington as to where Kentucky is going bowling for the holidays. Following the Cats’ victory in Athens, Ga., UK has put itself in position to make it to an upper echelon bowl, especially if it defeats Tennessee on Saturday and improves to eight wins.
With one game left, people want to know what bowls it’s down to. On just about any other year, we’d be able to narrow it down to one or two at this point, however, it’s not that easy this year. Because of the crowded Southeastern Conference picture, UK could still reasonably wind up at about four different bowls (most likely the Outback, Chick-fil-A, Gaylord Hotels Music City or AutoZone Liberty bowls).
First, before we dive any farther, let’s see what some of the experts are predicting:
ESPN’s Chris Low: Chick-fil-A Bowl vs. ACC teamCBS Sports: Chick-fil-A Bowl vs. ClemsonCNNSI: Chick-fil-A Bowl vs. ClemsonScout: Outback Bowl vs. Wisconsin
Now the last prediction is interesting because it’s predicting a Kentucky win over Tennessee. Yes, if the Cats beat the Volunteers, they are very much in the discussion for a New Year’s Day bowl, most likely in the Outback Bowl in Tampa.
The big picture is that where Kentucky goes for the holidays is largely contingent on it does against Tennessee. Beat the Vols and it’s Outback or Chick-fil-A, at worst. Lose and the Outback Bowl likely disappears and suddenly the Cats are thrown back into a pile of teams (Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina) bidding for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. That’s leaves a very good chance that the Cats could still end up back in Nashville or Memphis.
So what’s it come down to? Just win Saturday.
To get a better picture of how the bowls are selected, SECsports.com has a full description of the bowl tie-ins. I’ll past the story in its entirety below:
The Southeastern Conference has agreements to send nine of its member institutions to postseason bowl games following the 2008 season. The winner of the SEC Championship Game will automatically participate in the Bowl Championship Series comprised of the Sugar, Rose, Orange and Fiesta Bowls.
The Capital One (2nd), will then make its pick following the BCS selections. The bowl must select the team with the next best overall record or a team within one win of the team with the next best overall record.
The Outback, Chick-fil-A and AT&T Cotton Bowls will work with the conference office to determine picks 3-5. The Cotton Bowl has the first preference of teams from the Western Division and the Outback Bowl has first preference of teams from the Eastern Division. The Cotton or Outback Bowl can select teams outside of its divisional preference, but must not select them before the opposite bowl selects from its divisional preference. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has the selection of preference following the Cotton and Outback Bowls.
In selections 6-7, the AutoZone Liberty and Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowls will make their selections, not in any specific order, but in consultation with the SEC Office. The Bowls will rank available qualified teams in order of preference. If there are no similarities in the order of selection, the bowls will be granted its selection. If the bowls rank the same teams in preference, the team involved in the process would get its preference of which bowl to participate.
The Petro Sun Independence Bowl will receive the eighth selection and the Papajohns.com Bowl will have the ninth selection of available SEC teams.
PETRO SUN INDEPENDENCE BOWL Dec. 28 • 8 p.m. ET • ESPN Shreveport, La. • Independence Stadium (50,459) Teams: SEC vs. Big 12
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL Dec. 29 • 3 p.m. ET • ESPN Birmingham, Ala. • Legion Field (71,594) Teams: SEC vs. Big East
CHICK-FIL-A BOWL Dec. 31 • 7:30 p.m. ET • ESPN Atlanta, Ga. • Georgia Dome (71,228) Teams: SEC vs. ACC
GAYLORD HOTELS MUSIC CITY BOWL Dec. 31 • 3:30 p.m. ET • ESPN Nashville, Tenn. • The Coliseum (67,000) Teams: SEC vs. ACC
OUTBACK BOWL Jan. 1 • 11 a.m. ET • ESPN Tampa, Fla. • Raymond James Stadium (65,657) Teams: SEC vs. Big Ten
CAPITAL ONE BOWL Jan. 1 • 1 p.m. ET • ABC Sports Orlando, Fla. • Florida Citrus Bowl (65,438) Teams: SEC vs. Big Ten
AT&T COTTON BOWL Jan. 2 • 2 p.m. ET • FOX Sports Dallas, Texas • The Cotton Bowl (68,252) Teams: SEC vs. Big 12
AUTOZONE LIBERTY BOWL Jan. 2 • 5 p.m. ET • ESPN Memphis, Tenn. • Liberty Bowl Stadium (62,338) Teams: SEC vs. Conference USA
