Bowl predictions, scenarios, rumors and speculation are running rampant now that the college football regular season is nearly complete.

As I wrote Sunday, the Cats could be headed to a number of destinations after the loss to Tennessee, including the Chick-fil-A, Music City, Liberty, PapaJohns.com and Independence bowls.

One obvious bowl that is missing from the list is the Outback Bowl. The Cats appeared to be playing for their Outback lives against Tennessee, with the winner becoming the de facto choice for the Outback representatives.

Or so it seemed that way. According to a blog post by Ben Jones of the Kentucky Kernel, the Outback Bowl still appears to be very interested in six teams, including UK.

Mike Schulze, director of communications and sponsorships for the Outback Bowl, was quoted in Jones’ report as saying, “Nobody with a 7-5 record or better is off the table yet.”

Schulze went on to turn the tables and ask Jones what he thought the interest at UK would be if the Outback Bowl decided to go with the Cats.

Blowing smoke? Maybe. Interesting? Most certainly.

My gut still tells me the Outback Bowl is going with Tennessee for a number of reasons (the buzz factor of Tennessee and first-year coach Lane Kiffin being one of them), but I’ve been proven wrong too many times to keep track of.

We’ll know sooner rather than later. The Outback Bowl is expected to make its pick Tuesday, according to Jones’ report, with an announcement coming later on in the week.

Latest bowl predictions: ESPN (Schlabach, Feldman and Low): PapaJohns.com CBS Sports: Music CitySports Illustrated: IndependenceScout: PapaJohns.com