The SEC is one of only two leagues to place four teams into the New Year’s Day 6 bowl group (College Football Playoff semifinals plus the four other major bowls) in one season, having done so in 2018.

We are now projecting that the SEC will do it again in 2020.

After two weeks of Big Ten play, it suddenly seems that, thanks to a couple of upsets, the late-starting league (which also placed four teams in major bowls in 2016) might get only two teams into the NYD6 this season. The Pac-12, with its seven-game season starting Saturday, is probably getting only one berth because its teams will have such a short resume. The CFP committee members will vote in a Big 12 representative because, well, the rules say they have to.

That leaves three teams for the ACC because of Notre Dame’s full inclusion in that league this season, the mandatory Group of 5 team (two pretty darn good candidates for that in Cincinnati and BYU) and, well, four openings for some other league.

Guess which one?

So welcome to the big time, Texas A&M. The Aggies, for the first time, are joining the three league teams that we have projected into the CFP or NYD6 all along — Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Our other SEC bowl projections are shaken up accordingly, which seems about right because there is some dropoff between the top four and the rest of the conference in 2020. But because the NCAA waived its wins requirement for this season, in theory every team is bowl eligible.

Also, we finally have dates for all of the postseason games. For the SEC, the Music City Bowl in Nashville is set for Dec. 30, the Liberty Bowl and Texas Bowl are on Dec. 31, the Birmingham Bowl has landed a prestigious Jan. 1 slot and the Gator Bowl is slated for Jan. 2.

There has been no date set for the Las Vegas Bowl, which is slated to welcome an SEC team for the first time in 2020. Whether Vegas will even host a bowl game in the new Allegiant Stadium in the 2020-21 season has not been determined, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. For now, we’re keeping Vegas in the bowl lineup until news dictates otherwise. Several bowls not involving the SEC have been canceled this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic: The Holiday, Redbox, Bahamas, Hawaii, Fenway and Quick Lane bowls.

Now let’s look at this week’s projections:

Bowl
Date
Location
Matchup
Rose (CFP semi)
Jan. 1
Pasadena, Calif.
Alabama vs. Ohio State
Sugar (CFP semi)
Jan. 1
New Orleans
Georgia vs. Clemson
Orange
Jan. 2
Miami
Florida vs. Notre Dame
Cotton
Dec. 30
Arlington
Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma
Citrus
Jan. 1
Orlando
Auburn vs. Northwestern
Gator
Jan. 2
Jacksonville, Fla.
Missouri vs. N.C. State
Outback
Jan. 2
Tampa, Fla.
Tennessee vs. Michigan
Liberty
Dec. 31
Memphis
Arkansas vs. Iowa State
Texas
Dec. 31
Houston
LSU vs. Kansas State
Music City
Dec. 30
Nashville
S. Carolina vs. Penn St.
Las Vegas
TBA
Las Vegas
Kentucky vs. Utah
Birmingham
Jan. 1
Birmingham
Ole Miss vs. Tulane