Potential bowl destinations are starting to become a bit clearer for a handful of SEC teams.
The TaxSlayer Bowl’s official Twitter account on Wednesday tweeted a list of potential participants, featuring four conference teams: Kentucky, Auburn, Florida and Arkansas.
Heading in to Championship Weekend, here are the teams in our mix for the TaxSlayer Bowl! pic.twitter.com/GbqsYq6Kto
— TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (@taxslayerbowl) November 30, 2016
The tweet also included a group of four ACC teams that are under consideration: Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. The TaxSlayer Bowl pits an SEC team against a representative from the ACC, Big Ten or Notre Dame, but it appears the selections are being whittled down.
As the second-highest ranked SEC team in the College Football Playoff rankings, the Gators could greatly improve their bowl destination (most likely the Sugar Bowl) if they upset top-ranked Alabama in this weekend’s SEC Championship Game.
If the Crimson Tide takes care of business, Auburn will most likely jump into that Sugar Bowl slot and be removed from the TaxSlayer Bowl field.
Virginia Tech would also likely find itself removed from this list and in a more prestigious bowl should it upset Clemson in the ACC title game. The TaxSlayer Bowl is slated for 11 a.m. ET on Dec. 31 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. It will be shown on ESPN.
Marcus covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
