SEC’s bowl plate isn’t full, but it’s still filling

There is no doubt about it, there are too many college football bowls.

When teams without a winning record can get into postseason play, even if it is because they are in good standing on their Academic Performance Rate, then the NCAA should tell ESPN, sorry, you need to find programming somewhere else.

There are 40 bowls. That means 80 of 127 Division I teams will play in a bowl. That’s almost 63 percent of the teams getting into the postseason. About 16 percent of the college teams make the NCAA’s basketball tournament.

Maybe there are 41 bowls. Texas sure acted like it was playing a bowl game Saturday when it beat Baylor, which had been penciled in for the Sugar Bowl. Admittedly, the Bears were down to a receiver trying to play quarterback, but it also looked a little like once they were out of the hunt for the national championship they let down.

Arkansas State has accepted a bid to play Dec. 19 in the New Orleans Bowl, its fifth consecutive bowl appearance and a bowl it has long deserved.

Counting the College Football Playoffs, the SEC, with 11 bowl tie-ins, came up one team short of fulfilling all of its responsibilities. The Independence Bowl will be looking outside the SEC for its second team.

Debates began this week that perhaps the Big Ten had replaced the SEC as the best football conference, but that really can’t be settled until the bowl season is finished, when the two conferences could play each other at least five times.

The SEC did have 10 teams qualify for bowls, including seven from the Western Division.

Today, on the most powerful entity in college sports, ESPN, the playoff teams will be announced. So will the four playoff bowl games and all the other bowl games.

The show will take on the NFL for ratings.

Here’s one guess where the SEC teams are going:

COTTON BOWL (Dec. 31 in Arlington, Texas) Alabama gets this semifinal berth, and there is no disputing the Crimson Tide earned their way into the Final Four.

SUGAR BOWL (Jan. 1 in New Orleans) Ole Miss vs. a Big 12 opponent, most likely Oklahoma State. The Rebels moved ahead of Florida in the playoff poll after the Gators lost badly to Florida State. Almost daily someone in Oxford says, “We were fourth and 25 from being in the SEC Championship.” That wild play — the “Mississippi Misplay” — came against Arkansas and started with Hunter Henry’s lateral that will haunt the Rebs for a long time.

CITRUS BOWL (Jan. 1 in Orlando, Fla.) Florida slipped badly at the end of the season, but this is a natural fit for the SEC Eastern Division champion. It probably will take on Michigan.

OUTBACK BOWL (Jan. 1 in Tampa, Fla.) Tennessee should take on Northwestern.

MUSIC CITY BOWL (Dec. 30 in Nashville, Tenn.) Georgia, second in the SEC East, slipped badly. It didn’t help the Bulldogs’ case that the school fired its coach after he went 9-3.

TAX SLAYER BOWL (Dec. 30 in Jacksonville, Fla.) By virtue of its victory over Arkansas, the Mississippi State Bulldogs got the last Florida bowl. Recruiting is why everyone wants to play in Florida.

LIBERTY BOWL (Jan. 2 in Memphis) Arkansas will take on a Big 12 opponent, perhaps Kansas State. A good bowl for the Razorbacks Nation.

TEXAS BOWL (Dec. 29 in Houston) Texas A&M vs. Texas Tech is a natural, although the Hogs wanted a return trip.

BELK BOWL (Dec. 30 in Charlotte, N.C.) LSU most likely will take on Duke.

BIRMINGHAM BOWL (Dec. 30, Birmingham, Ala.) Auburn gets Memphis in a showcase of Tigers. Auburn has plenty of time to find a way to slow Memphis’ passing attack.