Despite the SEC’s Sugar Bowl bid being up for grabs over the last few weeks of the regular season, no league team stepped up and earned the right to finish the season in New Orleans.
Texas A&M lost out when it dropped games to Ole Miss and LSU down the stretch – both at home, LSU blew its chance by losing at home to Florida, Tennessee lost its chance by losing on the road at Vanderbilt, Auburn could have sealed it up by winning at Alabama, but failed to do so, and Florida could have done the same by winning the SEC Championship Game against the Tide over the weekend.
Now after all those outcomes, No. 14 Auburn has maintained its place as the SEC’s second-highest ranked team, and as its award, gets to face off against Big 12 champion and No. 7 ranked Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
With the game’s official announcement coming on Sunday, the Tigers open the game as a five-point underdog, according to Vegas Insider.
Given the long break between now and the January bowl game, Auburn should enter the game at its healthiest point in some time and give the Sooners everything they can handle in the New Year’s Six game. The Sugar Bowl kicks off Jan. 2 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
