The best is yet to come: Alabama in tonight’s Cotton Bowl semifinal followed by New Year’s Day games with Tennessee, Florida and Ole Miss and Saturday games featuring Georgia and Arkansas.

So far the SEC is 3-1 in the bowls. Auburn provided the biggest pleasant surprise with an easy victory over Memphis. Texas A&M was disappointing in a loss to Louisville.

Here are 5 top moments from the SEC’s four early games:

5. Memphis safety Reggis Ball mugs an Auburn equipment staffer: Let’s be honest. What’s going to be remembered most about the Tigers’ 31-10 Birmingham Bowl victory? That’s right, Ball’s tackle of an equipment staffer and theft of a football after the game. It got wackier when Ball signed the ball and posted a photo on Instagram. He was promptly kicked off the team by Memphis. But he was fifth-year senior, anyway. The loony behavior — Auburn was allegedly warned about the Ball stealing possibility before the game — got Ball his 15 minutes of fame. But it also overshadowed his two-interception performance. Want to see the attack one more time?  Click on this obligatory link.

4. Auburn’s defense was fine without Will Muschamp: Sorry, South Carolina fans. But this needs to be pointed out: Teams seem to do extremely well after parting with the new Gamecocks coach. First, it was Florida winning the SEC East in its first year since Muschamp’s embarrassing tenure with the Gators. Now, the much-maligned Tigers defense shut down Paxton Lynch, perhaps the nation’s best future NFL quarterback, in its first game without Muschamp as defensive coordinator. Coincidence? Maybe.

3. Peyton Barber eclipses the 1,000-yard mark. Yeah, sticking with Auburn here. Barber rushed for only 40 yards on 11 carries against Memphis. Yet he reached the 1,000 plateau for a sputtering offense, extending the Tigers’ streak of 1,000-yard rushers to seven seasons. It was a good season for Barber, the Tigers’ No. 3 running back in the preseason.

2. LSU offense shows its teeth: Leonard Fournette rushed for 212 yards and scored five touchdowns in the Texas Bowl. Brandon Harris threw for 254 yards with one TD and one interception. Offensive coordinator Cam Cameron moved from the press box to the sidelines. Granted, the Tigers’ success came against Texas Tech, which has one of the nation’s worst defenses. Still, the offensive fireworks had to feel good for a group of beleaguered Tigers players and coaches.

1. Dak Prescott finishes in style: The Mississippi State quarterback capped a great career with a fitting finish, throwing for 380 yards and four TDs and running for 47 more yards in the Belk Bowl. The Bulldogs won 19 games in the past two years for the first time in school history. Prescott’s receivers finished with impressive stats for the season. Fred Ross topped 1,000 yards. De’Runnya Wilson contributed 10 TD catches and more than 900 yards.