Bowl Season for the SEC got off to a rough start. Four teams – South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas – accepted bowl bids but did not get to play the games. The first SEC team that did play in a bowl game, Florida, was blown out by 35 points. The conference shook off the poor start to finish on a historic high note.

Mississippi State got the SEC back in the win column on New Year’s Eve with a 28-26 win over No. 24 Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl. It would turn out to be the first of six wins over Top 25 opponents, making conference history.

Georgia followed with a 24-21 win over No. 8 Cincinnati. Auburn stumbled against Northwestern, but Alabama made it three wins with a 31-14 win over No. 4 Notre Dame.

The SEC then 3-0 on Saturday as Kentucky defeated No. 23 NC State 23-21, Ole Miss beat No. 11 Indiana 26-20 and Texas A&M topped No. 13 North Carolina 41-27. It certainly turned a lot of “takes” about the SEC from hot to freezing cold.