How about the Tennessee Volunteers?

Talk about throwing a wrench into things. Tennessee did the unthinkable against the Crimson Tide on, at least unthinkable if you saw the state of the Vols 2 years ago. Hendon Hooker has the Vols rolling and for now there’s no reason to believe they’re losing any time soon.

Georgia has entered the chat. The Bulldogs and Vols will be playing for the East in 3 weeks, but the way the college football landscape is shaping out, I’m not sure either will miss the College Football Playoff.

The Vols and Bulldogs are both almost certain to finish the regular season at least 11-1, though the Bulldogs have more of a bump in the road than Tennessee with Mississippi State on the docket. The West still has to go through Alabama, but it doesn’t feel like the Tide’s regular-season losses are over.

The Tide still have LSU, Ole Miss and Mississippi State to go. Given how the Tide played against Texas A&M and Texas, another loss certainly is possible.

Moving on. Ole Miss seems like a shoo-in for a New Year’s 6 at this point. The Rebels have Alabama and Mississippi State left, but have played well enough to suggest a win in at least one of those battles.

The Bulldogs could go all over the place. Kentucky played itself into a Citrus Bowl with its remaining schedule and the win at home, but Mississippi State is trending toward a respectable 9-3 finish and a ReliaQuest bid.

LSU is coming for that bid, though. The Tigers have won 5 out of their past 6 with a loss coming to the red-hot Vols. A hard schedule awaits, but the Tigers could be gunning for higher than their current projection.

Arkansas, Florida and South Carolina are all safe for a bid until further notice.

The SEC bowl lineup is similar to that of last season’s. The Las Vegas Bowl will replace the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in its rotation between B1G and SEC. If the ReliaQuest Bowl sounds unfamiliar, it’s because it changed its branding from the Outback Bowl.

As usual, the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl have an SEC tie-in because they are not hosting this season’s College Football Playoff. Those distinctions go to the Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl.

Here it is in all its glory: SEC Bowl predictions following Week 5 action.

SEC college football bowl projections following Week 7

Peach Bowl (Playoff semifinal): Tennessee vs. Georgia

Fiesta Bowl (Playoff semifinal): Ohio State vs. Clemson

Sugar: Alabama vs. TCU

Orange: Ole Miss vs. Wake Forest

Citrus: Kentucky vs. Illinois

ReliaQuest: Mississippi State vs. Purdue

Music City: LSU vs. Maryland

Gator: Texas A&M vs. Washington

Liberty: Arkansas vs. Texas Tech

Las Vegas: Florida vs. Washington State

Birmingham: South Carolina vs. Iowa State