SEC WILL HAVE 10 BOWL BIDS — COUNT ’EM

A bunch of folks are commenting on the Tennessean site that Vanderbilt must win seven games to go to a bowl, and there’s no way we can even win six games let alone seven so we’re doomed, doomed, doomed!

I can’t wait to hear all the panickers after we lose to a ridiculously talented Florida squad on Nov. 8. Don’t know about you, but I’m treating that game like a bye week. Let’s get through the Gator game alive, maybe get some young kids like Larry Smith some experience, maybe get Bryan Hahnfeldt a chance to brush up on his field goal kicking, and then focus on the next three games, all of which we can lose, as so many people are quick to point out, but also all of which we can win.

Oh, and we’ll be in the same situation we were last year, needing one win in three games. Except that Kentucky, Tennessee and Wake Forest may not be bowl eligible when we play them and will need a victory over us.
But if we win just one of those, I think we’re going to the Liberty Bowl. Many are pointing out a six-win South Carolina’s bowl snub last season, but there was one less bowl to choose from because the PapaJohns.com Bowl didn’t have an SEC tie-in and it now does.

Last year, the SEC had nine bowl bids. This year, the SEC will surely have 10 bids:
1. BCS game, possibly but not necessarily the national championship game
2. BCS game, probably the Sugar Bowl
3. Cotton Bowl
4. Capital One Bowl
5. Outback Bowl
6. Chick-fil-A Bowl
7. Music City Bowl
8. Liberty Bowl
9. Independence Bowl
10. PapaJohns.com Bowl

Count ’em up. That’s 10.