SEC bowl projections after Week 6

You want chaos? College Station gave us chaos on Saturday.

No. 1 Alabama went down to Texas A&M, ending the Crimson Tide’s 19-game winning streak and its 100-game winning streak (!) against unranked teams.

It also led us to seriously rethink our SEC bowl projections.

Georgia took care of business against Auburn, winning the latest edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. The Bulldogs also take over as the undisputed No. 1 team in the country and our new team projected as the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff.

Now, Alabama has plenty of time to get back in the CFP race. But not with a loss to Georgia (assuming both teams get there) in the SEC Championship Game. And Texas A&M showed a formula that Georgia is certainly qualified to follow should the Dawgs square off with the Crimson Tide in Atlanta. Pressure Bryce Young, as the Aggies did? Yep, the Dawgs can do that. Throw downfield? Georgia can do that. Oh, and UGA can run the ball all day, too.

So (deep breath, prepare for people to freak out) we are now projecting that Georgia will not only win the SEC title, but be the lone team from the league to make the CFP. Of course, Alabama still controls its destiny in the West (no teams in the division remain unbeaten, and Bama has already beaten Ole Miss), and if the Crimson Tide runs the table from here, it’ll make us look awfully silly.

But hey, we thought that Clemson was going to return to the Playoff in the preseason, so what the heck did we know?

Oh, and Kentucky? Congrats, and welcome to the New Year’s Day 6 projections. Back-to-back wins over Florida and LSU have vaulted the Wildcats into serious SEC East contention. We’ll find out how well UK breathes the rarified air at the top of the SEC this week against Georgia in Athens. But either way, the Wildcats seem very likely to achieve a 10-win season, and perhaps more.

These projections essentially predict where teams will finish the season, not their current form.

After the league champion goes to a major bowl (let’s face it, the CFP), the next best team is chosen for the Citrus Bowl. After that come the next 6 bowls, all considered to be on the same tier: The Outback, Gator, Texas, Liberty, Music City and Duke’s Mayo games. If the SEC has any eligible teams left, the Birmingham and Gasparilla bowls have options.

Just about halfway through the season, here are the latest SEC bowl projections: