With Christmas comes the SEC bowl season. Here’s a few of the good and bad bowl performances conference teams have given us over the last decade:

THE GOOD 

  • 2007 BCS Championship: Florida 41, Ohio State 14: Ohio State’s Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff for a 93-yard touchdown. That was the last time the Buckeyes held a lead in the 2007 title game. The Gators jumped out to a 34-14 lead at halftime and added a TD on a Tim Tebow run.
  • 2008 BCS Championship: LSU 38, Ohio State 24: Matt Flynn threw for four TDs for the Tigers, who knocked off the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes to claim the national title in their home state at the Louisiana Superdome. The Tigers were the first team since 1960 to win the national title with two losses.
  • 2008 Sugar Bowl: Georgia 41, Hawaii 10
  • 2008 Chick-fil-A Bowl: LSU 38, Georgia Tech 3
  • 2009 BCS Championship: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14: Tim Tebow threw two TD passes and Percy Harvin ran for a TD, leading the Gators past the top-ranked Sooners and QB Sam Bradford in their home state at Dolphin Stadium.
  • 2010 BCS Championship: Alabama 37, Texas 21: Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson each rushed for more than 100 yards and two TDs for the Crimson Tide, which knocked out star Texas QB Colt McCoy on the Longhorns’ first series and reeled off 24 points in the second quarter to take a commanding lead. Alabama QB Greg McElroy, playing with broken ribs, threw only 12 passes.
  • 2011 BCS Championship: Auburn 22, Oregon 19: Though a closer game than most of the SEC’s national title contests during the conference’s seven-year winning streak, the Tigers’ victory was impressive. Holding the Ducks to 438 yard offense was an impressive feat, considering they entered the game averaging more than 45 points. Cam Newton had a solid game for Auburn, throwing for 265 yards and two TDs and running for 64 yards.
  • 2011 Capital One Bowl: Alabama 49, Michigan State 7
  • 2011 Gator Bowl: Mississippi State 52, Michigan 14
  • 2012 BCS Championship: Alabama 21, LSU 0: The 2012 title game marked a rematch in what was dubbed the “Game of the Century” between the SEC West rivals. This time, the Tide took the victory, holding LSU scoreless. Kicker Jeremy Shelley made five field goals before Trent Richardson provided Alabama with its only touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
  • 2013 BCS Championship: Alabama 42, Notre Dame 14: ESPN‘s Mark Schlabach credited this game as the reason why an inevitable playoff was “needed.” Notre Dame entered as an undefeated No. 1, but fell against an overmatched Alabama team. Eddie Lacy earned MVP honors after rushing for  140 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.
  • 2013 Liberty Bowl: Mississippi State 44, Rice 7

THE BAD

  • 2008 Cotton Bowl: Missouri 38, Arkansas 7: The Tigers came into the game with a chip on their shoulders after Kansas out-negotiated them for an Orange Bowl berth despite losing a head-to-head battle for the Big 12 North championship to the Tigers on the final week of the regular season. Tony Temple rushed for 281 yards and four TDs for the Tigers. The Razorbacks, who had three future NFL running backs with Darren McFadden, Felix Jones and Peyton Hillis, seemed in disarray without coach Houston Nutt, who left to coach at Ole Miss before the bowl game.
  • 2009 Outback Bowl: Iowa 31, South Carolina 10: Shonn Greene led Iowa with 121 rushing yards and three TDs on 29 carries. The Hawkeyes forced five turnovers, including three interceptions of hometown freshman Stephen Garcia.
  • 2010 Papa John’s Bowl: UConn 20, South Carolina 7
  • 2014 Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma 45, Alabama 31: Trevor Knight threw for 348 yards and four TDs for the Sooners, who validated coach Bob Stoops’ pre-game assertion that the Sooners could play with the best teams in the SEC. A.J. McCarron threw for an un-Alabama-like 387 yards and two TDs, but also threw two interceptions. Freshman Derrick Henry rushed for 100 yards on only eight carries, including a 43-yard TD run, to lead the Crimson Tide running game.
  • 2015 Peach Bowl: TCU 42, Ole Miss 3: The Horned Frogs made a statement about their snub by the College Football Playoff committee by burying the Rebels. Ole Miss managed only 129 yards total offense. Rebels QB Bo Wallace was intercepted three times. TCU led 28-0 at halftime and 42-0 after three quarters.
  • 2015 Orange Bowl: Georgia Tech 49, Mississippi State 34: The Bulldogs had no clue how to stop the Yellow Jackets’ option attack, allowing 452 yards rushing and another 125 through the air. Three Tech ballcarriers, including QB Justin Thomas rushed for more than 120 yards. Dak Prescott rushed for 453 yards and three TDs for the Bulldogs. But Tech scored three unanswered TDs in the third quarter to take a commanding 42-20 lead.