It’s been a rough bowl season for the SEC, with the conference sitting at 5-5 in bowl games heading into the final weekend. Who’s coming out of the postseason hot and who is cold? SDS takes a look around the conference.

HOT

  • The SEC East. Who would have thought? The SEC’s puny little brother division has gone undefeated in its first three games, beating some well-regarded teams in the process. The East certainly had a worse regular season, but the division has come to play in the postseason like it has something to prove.
  • The West’s mobile QBs. Nick Marshall and Dak Prescott both lost, but both proved they’re more than capable quarterbacks. Prescott put up an Orange Bowl-record 453 yards, while Marshall showed exactly what makes him such a threat, going 15-for-22 for 217 yards and two scores. It was likely Marshall’s last game as a quarterback and could have been Prescott’s last at Mississippi State, but they still proved their talent despite the losses.
  • Missouri’s momentum. The overlooked Tigers might be losing their two best defenders, but they’re making sure voters don’t forget about them come August. Mizzou raced past Minnesota late, avenging their Big Ten bungle early in the season and proving the East’s best team the last two years deserves a little more national respect.

NOT

  • The top of the West. The baddest division in college football has proven to be anything but. The only two West teams to win were the ones that finished sixth and seventh in the division, respectively, while the top five teams lost, despite all being ranked in the top 25 going into their bowls. It’s a black eye for the division hailed as cream of the college football crop, and it knocks the SEC down a few notches on the whole.
  • Non-conference dominance. What happened to the SEC’s stranglehold on the rest of college football? After the West went 28-0 in the regular season against non-conference foes, the SEC slipped significantly. While the opponents have been very good, the SEC teams beat the likes of Wisconsin, West Virginia, Kansas State and others during the regular season. The performance in bowl season is baffling.
  • SEC refs. On the big stage of the Rose Bowl, the SEC trotted out a team of officials to call the national semifinal game between Oregon and Florida State. As has been the case all season, their performance had plenty of fans and media scratching their heads on social media. This was not a banner year for the SEC, and it definitely wasn’t for the refs.