To bowl or not to bowl, that is the question.

It’s a question that plenty of SEC fan bases are asking. Seven SEC teams have clinched a bowl berth, 6 SEC teams have bowl possibilities and 1 is Vandy.

Sorry, Vandy. Better days are ahead for Clark Lea’s squad.

With 3 games remaining on the schedule, now is a perfect time to look at bowl chances for those 6 SEC teams in pursuit of win No. 6:

Arkansas

  • Current record — 3-6
  • Remaining schedule — vs. Auburn, vs. FIU, vs. Mizzou
  • Bowl or no bowl? — No bowl

I applaud what Arkansas did in its first game after Sam Pittman fired OC Dan Enos. Going on the road and winning at Florida to keep those bowl chances alive was as gritty as it gets. The Hogs deserve credit for that. So why no bowl?

But they have 2 potential slip-up spots still on the schedule against an Auburn team that finally ditched the 2-QB system and a Mizzou team that just played a 60-minute game in Athens. Yes, they’re home games. So was BYU. So was Mississippi State. I realize, that was a different offense. We’ve still only seen 1 game of Kenny Guiton as a play-caller. Saying he’s an upgrade from Enos doesn’t guarantee a 4-0 November. It just makes the Enos move hurt that much more knowing that Guiton and others saw that the offense needed a more ground-heavy approach.

More likely is that Arkansas will stumble once in that 3-game stretch and Pittman will have to sweat things out on the hot seat.

Auburn

  • Current record — 5-4
  • Remaining schedule — at Arkansas, vs. New Mexico State, vs. Alabama
  • Bowl or no bowl? — Bowl

I told Auburn fans that they could celebrate a bowl berth if they beat Vanderbilt. That happened. Hugh Freeze apparently didn’t sleep ahead of that game, but he can sleep easy knowing that even if his team loses at Arkansas, bowl eligibility is in the bag with a win against Jerry Kill’s New Mexico State squad, which lost by double digits to the UMass team that Auburn smashed.

It’s strange to say that there’s a world in which Auburn could still go into the offseason with an 8-5 Year 1 for Freeze. Considering how bad the offense looked prior to Mississippi State, that’d be a testament to Freeze and his coaching staff for not splintering down the stretch like their predecessors.

Florida

  • Current record — 5-4
  • Remaining schedule — at LSU, at Mizzou, vs. Florida State
  • Bowl or no bowl? — Bowl

I know, I know. ESPN FPI doesn’t like the Gators’ chances of going bowling, and honestly, I’m not saying I feel confident about that possibility, either. The Arkansas loss was devastating because of the 3-game stretch against ranked foes to close the season. All 3 of Florida’s remaining opponents have top-40 offenses, which is bad news for a Florida defense that surrendered 39 points in each of the past 3 games and is without Shemar James for the remainder of the season.

So where’s my faith? That’s a fair question and I’ll give a simple answer. I’ve convinced myself that Florida isn’t bad enough to lose 5 consecutive games to miss a bowl berth. That’s what it would take. At some point, the team we saw against South Carolina and Tennessee will show up and the Gators will win one of those games as an underdog.

In the preseason, I had FSU as that game. While I feel much less confident in that, I do think Florida will benefit from a weird break. Maybe the FSU receivers are still banged up and all of those slow starts set up for an uphill climb in a bowl-or-bust game in The Swamp. Maybe a week earlier at Mizzou, the Tigers are demoralized after losses to Georgia and Tennessee, and we instead see a lack of discipline against a desperate Florida team.

Shoot, perhaps this weekend, LSU opts to sit Jayden Daniels after taking that monster hit from Dallas Turner, and Florida’s defense gets a couple of untimely turnovers from gun-slinging Garrett Nussmeier.

I’m not calling my shot that one of those specific things happening, but I’ll be bold here and say despite some horrendous defense as of late, Florida is too good to suffer a late-season skid that bad.

Mississippi State

  • Current record — 4-5
  • Remaining schedule — at Texas A&M, vs. Southern Miss, vs. Ole Miss
  • Bowl or no bowl? — No bowl

The Kentucky loss was crushing for those bowl chances. Against a team that hadn’t won in Starkville since 2008, Mississippi State’s depleted, ineffective offense had no response. It’s because of that group that I can’t see a win in College Station, nor can I forecast an Egg Bowl win.

I’ll concede Southern Miss, but it’s hard to have confidence in an offense that wasn’t particularly good when healthy, either. So even if we knew when and how effective Will Rogers and Woody Marks would look upon return, it’s hard to feel inspired by anything we’ve seen in SEC play.

But who knows? A bowl-or-bust Egg Bowl could be interesting, especially if Ole Miss has its faint Playoff hopes wiped off the table this weekend at Georgia.

South Carolina

  • Current record — 3-6
  • Remaining schedule — vs. Vanderbilt, vs. Kentucky, vs. Clemson
  • Bowl or no bowl? — Bowl

Let’s get bold. I know that South Carolina has issues galore. I can acknowledge that. Defensively, this group has been incredibly disappointing under Clayton White. The nation’s No. 108-ranked defense is why Spencer Rattler’s best full season has been overshadowed. A team that I picked to finish 2nd in the East has been an afterthought in the division race since early October.

But with 3 games at home, I have a feeling that this is when we’re reminded that Shane Beamer is the right person for this job. The past 2 seasons, South Carolina played its best ball in November and beyond with 4 double-digit upsets. My guess is that they won’t be a double-digit underdog in those 3 remaining games. While Kentucky just exorcised some road demons at Mississippi State, it’s still been a disappointing season from Devin Leary and discipline issues have been a killer. For a night game in Columbia, that could surface once again.

As for Clemson, well, the Tigers might need a few more calls from Tyler from Spartanburg. I picked Clemson to go to the Playoff as a 12-1 team with that lone loss coming in Columbia. Granted, that was when I thought the Gamecocks were in for an 8-4 season. Things have changed, but Rattler picked apart a much better Clemson team last year in Death Valley, and if he can get Juice Wells back, I love the idea of South Carolina playing desperate in a rivalry game.

Assuming South Carolina still has 5 scholarship offensive linemen these last 3 games, I’ll say that a flawed team finds a way to somehow reach the postseason for the 3rd consecutive year under Beamer.

Texas A&M

  • Current record — 5-4
  • Remaining schedule — vs. Mississippi State, vs. Abilene Christian, at LSU
  • Bowl or no bowl? — Bowl

Hey. I said that I’d include everyone. That includes the Aggies and their 2 extremely favorable chances to earn bowl eligibility the next 2 weeks.

As long as Max Johnson isn’t more hurt than what we’ve been led to believe, I’d imagine that bowl eligibility is clinched against Mississippi State. It is worth noting that if he’s unhealthy, QB3 in Aggieland is Jaylen Henderson, AKA a former Fresno State backup with 8 career FBS pass attempts (6 of which were against FCS foes). Don’t assume anything if that’s the case.

But it’s telling that A&M is even part of this conversation heading into the second weekend of November. In Year 6 of the Jimbo Fisher era, that’s a tough pill to swallow.

Is it a $77 million pill to swallow? Just clinch bowl eligibility on Saturday and worry about that later.