Now that we know who’s sitting out bowl games, here are the 3 SEC teams I have the most confidence in

Say what you want about players sitting out bowl games.

You like it, you don’t like it, you don’t care, you’re wondering how long this sentence will run, whatever. It’s happening, so regardless of how you feel about it, we’re going to have to adjust our expectations for some of these matchups.

While there could still be more players who announce they’re sitting, the list of skippers looks pretty close to final. That means we have an even better idea of what these matchups look like.

So with that in mind, I decided to look at which SEC teams I have the most confidence in. I excluded Alabama from this because I wanted to keep this in the mindset of teams who could be impacted by skipping bowl games. Nobody on Alabama or Oklahoma was sitting out a Playoff game.

Here are the 3 that I rolled with:

1. LSU vs. UCF

Wait a minute. Didn’t LSU lose as many impact players as anyone? Probably. The likes of Ed Alexander and Greedy Williams are sitting out to prepare for the NFL Draft while Kristian Fulton and Breiden Fehoko are out with injuries and middle linebacker Jacob Phillips is suspended for the first half for a targeting penalty. That’s a ton of production missing from the defensive side.

But here’s the thing. LSU is so deep that I think the Tigers are still stout against a backup Group of 5 quarterback. Did that rile up UCF fans? Well, it shouldn’t have. It’s true that LSU still has dynamic playmakers like Devin White and Grant Delpit, who are more than capable of taking over.

I like how Ed Orgeron has been treating this game, and how he said the Texas A&M loss left a bitter taste in their mouths. The added bonus of potentially squashing the UCF winning streak will add some juice.

And if there’s one thing I never question about Orgeron’s team, it’s whether they’ll be ready from the jump.

2. Georgia vs. Texas

Again, some might point to this game and wonder if Georgia will be motivated. It’s a fair concern. We know there are games that stand out in the past 5 years wherein an SEC team didn’t show up like it should have for a New Year’s 6 Bowl after a devastating loss (2017 Peach Bowl, 2013 Sugar Bowl, etc.). What’s to say Georgia won’t follow suit?

Well, this is the perfect time to have a young team. As many know by now, 63 of Georgia’s 85 scholarship players are underclassmen. That probably explains why not a single Georgia player is sitting out to train for the NFL Draft.

And while the narrative is that the Dawgs might not get up for this one, don’t forget the flip side. That is, they might be set on showing the selection committee why they should have made the field.

I still like the odds of Jake Fromm lighting up one of the nation’s worst pass defenses. There will be opportunities to get Mecole Hardman in space, and I’d expect a healthy amount of back-shoulder throws to Jeremiah Holloman against that porous Texas secondary.

Maybe some will wonder how the Justin Fields drama will impact the locker room, but I won’t. While it’ll continue to dominate headlines, it shouldn’t be a distraction. Georgia is, in my opinion, one of the best 4 teams in the country. We get a reminder of that in the Sugar Bowl.

3. Mississippi State vs. Iowa

So here’s a little fun fact about Iowa. Tight end Noah Fant was a preseason All-American, and he won’t play in this game because he’s leaving for the NFL. Ah, but no worries. Iowa’s other tight end, T.J. Hockenson, won the Mackey Award as the nation’s best at the position.

Crazy.

But here’s another fun fact. Iowa, when it travels to places where it isn’t freezing for bowl games, has been horrendous under Kirk Ferentz. Look at Iowa’s past 4 trips to California or Florida:

It’s a thing. When Iowa gets into warmer weather, suddenly it turns into a MAC team. In the 2016 Outback Bowl, Ferentz even tried mixing it up to give players less time enjoying the sunshine away from the brutal Iowa winters, and that didn’t work.

So consider that my way of saying, yeah, I like Mississippi State’s chances. While Iowa has an exceptional run defense (No. 6 in FBS), I don’t like the Hawkeyes’ odds of putting up points against a Bulldog squad that’ll have Montez Sweat and Jeffery Simmons playing in their last college game.

This one might be a lock to hit the under in a defensive slugfest, but I’ll take the odds on Joe Moorhead spoiling another one of Iowa’s end-of-year vacations.

Er, bowl games.

Connor O'Gara

Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.