SEC bowl projections after Week 3

Welcome, Vanderbilt.

Oh, yes, perhaps your invitation did get lost in the mail.

The Commodores are no longer on the outside looking in for our SEC bowl projections after a very nice victory Saturday against then-No. 18 Kansas State.

Vanderbilt won by the most Vanderbilt-y score, 14-7. It’s nice to know that, in an era when so many football games are settled by basketball scores, there’s still a campus somewhere in America where 14-7 is not only a possible score, it’s the most desirable and normal way for the home team to win.

As for LSU, that thumping in Starkville moves the Tigers out of the New Year’s Day 6 picture. That opens a spot for Georgia to play, essentially, a home game in the Peach Bowl at Atlanta’s gleaming new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Of course, should Mississippi State make it two upsets in two weeks by winning this Saturday in Athens, the other Bulldogs could easily move into the SEC’s third NYD6 slot. (Until proven otherwise, the assumption here will be that the SEC will get three teams into major bowls.)

Missouri? The Tigers are back in (sorry) show-me mode after that no-show at home against a bad Purdue program. Those back-to-back SEC East division titles must feel like a long time ago in Columbia.