Sunday, October 26, 2008

ONE WIN WILL MEAN A BOWL FOR VANDERBILT

Today, ESPN bowl projectors Mark Schlabach and Bruce Feldman are both picking Vanderbilt to go to the Liberty Bowl and play Tulsa.

Remember when Vanderbilt bounced the Vols out of a bowl in 2005? Well, the Commodores will probably get another chance this year.

In fact, here's a prediction for you: The winner of the Vanderbilt-Tennessee game goes to the Liberty Bowl.

Anyway, here's a breakdown of who in the SEC is bowl eligible (six wins) and who hopes to be:

BOWL ELIGIBLE
Two of these three teams will probably land in BCS bowls, and their national championship hopes are still alive, too:
• ALABAMA (8-0)
• FLORIDA (6-1)
• GEORGIA (7-1)

ONE WIN AWAY
This is a gimme for LSU and probably not so tough for the Gamecocks, either. Kentucky and Vanderbilt aren't out of the woods, but one of them will become bowl eligible for sure after they face off in Lexington on Nov. 15.
• KENTUCKY (5-3): at Miss State, Georgia, Vanderbilt, at Tennessee
• LSU (5-2): Tulane, Alabama, Troy, Ole Miss, at Arkansas
• S CAROLINA (5-3): Tennessee, Arkansas, at Florida, at Clemson
• VANDERBILT (5-3): Florida, at Kentucky, Tennessee, at Wake Forest

TWO WINS AWAY
Auburn's game Saturday in Oxford is huge. Assuming that Tenn-Martin is a win, a victory against Ole Miss would put the Tigers in a bowl, but a loss would mean they'd have to beat either Georgia or Alabama to go bowling.
• AUBURN (4-4): at Ole Miss, Tenn-Martin, Georgia, at Alabama
• OLE MISS (4-4): Auburn, La-Monroe, at LSU, Miss State

THREE WINS AWAY
Tennessee has the best shot here.
• ARKANSAS (3-5): Tulsa, at S Carolina, at Miss State, LSU
• MISS STATE (3-5): Kentucky, at Alabama, Arkansas, at Ole Miss
• TENNESSEE (3-5): at S Carolina, Wyoming, at Vanderbilt, Kentucky

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now that's what I call a useful post!

Thanks for sorting out the big picture on the bowls.

I do think 7-5 will look a bit more respectable than 6-6, don't you?

DIMON KENDRICK-HOLMES said...

Yes, 7-5 will look much more respectable. And it will guarantee a winning season, which we won't have if we go 6-6 and then lose a bowl game.