The biggest mystery in the SEC — like most of the Power 5 conferences aside from the ACC (Clemson) or Pac 12 (Stanford) — is which team, if any, will represent the conference in the College Football Playoff.
With only four spots, at least one Power conference is guaranteed of being left out. And that doesn’t even include possible complications such as an undefeated Houston or one-loss Notre Dame.
So we know somebody will be left out. It just better not be the SEC.
The SEC East, in general, isn’t favoring well in national bowl projections with Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt all projected to be out. The SEC West, however, has all of its teams listed as going to a bowl by every major outlet.
Here are the collective bowl projections after Week 10:
ALABAMA
CBS Sports: Cotton Bowl vs. Clemson (playoff semifinal).
ESPN: Cotton Bowl vs. Ohio State (playoff semifinal), national championship vs. Clemson (Mark Schlabach); Cotton Bowl vs. Ohio State (playoff semifinal), national championship vs. Clemson (Brett McMurphy).
SDS: Cotton Bowl vs. Baylor.
ARKANSAS
CBSSports: Texas Bowl vs. West Virginia.
ESPN: Music City Bowl vs. Duke (Schlabach); Belk Bowl vs. North Carolina State (McMurphy).
SDS: Liberty Bowl vs. West Virginia.
AUBURN
CBS Sports: Birmingham Bowl vs. Temple.
ESPN: Liberty Bowl vs. Texas Tech (Schlabach); Liberty Bowl vs. Arizona (McMurphy).
SDS: Birmingham Bowl vs. Memphis.
FLORIDA
CBS Sports: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan.
ESPN: Peach Bowl vs. Houston (Schlabach); Sugar Bowl vs. Baylor (McMurphy).
SDS: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan State.
GEORGIA
CBS Sports: Outback Bowl vs. Northwestern.
ESPN: TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Penn State (Schlabach); Texas Bowl vs. Kansas State (McMurphy).
SDS: TaxSlayer Bowl vs. Penn State.
KENTUCKY
CBS Sports: Independence Bowl vs. West Virginia.
ESPN: Birmingham Bowl vs. Cincinnati (Schlabach); Liberty Bowl vs. Tulsa (McMurphy).
SDS: Independence Bowl vs. Virginia Tech.
LSU
CBS Sports: Sugar Bowl vs. TCU.
ESPN: Sugar Bowl vs. Oklahoma (Schlabach); Peach Bowl vs. Notre Dame (McMurphy).
SDS: Sugar Bowl vs. Oklahoma State.
MISSISSIPPI STATE
CBS Sports: Taxslayer Bowl vs. North Carolina.
ESPN: Outback Bowl vs. Michigan (Schlabach); Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan State (McMurphy).
SDS: Belk Bowl vs. North Carolina.
OLE MISS
CBS Sports: Music City Bowl vs. Penn State.
ESPN: Citrus Bowl vs. Michigan State (Schlabach); Outback Bowl vs. Michigan (McMurphy).
SDS: Music City Bowl vs. Duke.
TENNESSEE
CBS Sports: Liberty Bowl vs. Kansas State.
ESPN: Belk Bowl vs. North Carolina (Schlabach); Music City Bowl vs. Penn State (McMurphy).
SDS: Outback Bowl vs. Michigan.
TEXAS A&M
CBS Sports: Belk Bowl vs. North Carolina State.
ESPN: Taxslayer Bowl vs. Duke (Schlabach); Texas Bowl vs. West Virginia (McMurphy).
SDS: Texas Bowl vs. Texas Tech.
