Predicting Winner for Every SEC Football Bowl Game
Bowl season is upon us, and the SEC will be busy during the holiday season.
Ten SEC schools will play games during the postseason, with No. 2 Alabama squaring off with No. 3 Michigan State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic national semifinal and Ole Miss facing Oklahoma State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Who will win the big New Year's Six games and the rest of the SEC's bowl matchups?
Our picks, based on success and trajectory, are in this slideshow.
AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl: LSU vs. Texas Tech
1 of 10
Dec. 29, 9 p.m. ET at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas
With three losses over the final month of the season and the drama surrounding the status of head coach Les Miles, the season didn't end the way LSU fans expected.
Well, until the bowl game.
LSU could go back to the future—as in, September 2015—in the Texas Bowl against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders have the third-worst rush defense in the country (271.83 yards per game and 5.92 yards per rush).
Star running back Leonard Fournette could legitimately run for 300 yards if Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron want him to.
Is that the best path, though?
LSU already knows Fournette is a monster and will be the focal point of the offense, but the fact that Miles was nearly shown the door following the end of the regular season could force him to open things up just to see if the Tigers can.
Gut feeling: LSU will throw on nearly every first and second down, and if it doesn't work, let Fournette move the chains on 3rd-and-10. If things start to get a little sketchy in the game, then turn around and hand it to No. 7 for the rest of the night and get out of there with a win.
Prediction: LSU 35, Texas Tech 17
Birmingham Bowl: Auburn vs. Memphis
2 of 10
Dec. 30, noon ET at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama
This is not anywhere close to the postseason destination that Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn dreamed of when the season started, but the preseason pick to win the conference by the media did rally to beat Texas A&M in November and Idaho during the penultimate weekend of the regular season to clinch a bowl berth.
The reward is a matchup with upstart Memphis and the high-flying Tigers offense.
Yikes.
Quarterback Paxton Lynch leads the nation's 13th-best passing offense (324.3 yards per game) and has completed 141 passes of 10 or more yards—12th-most in the country. Auburn, on the other hand, has the SEC's third-worst pass defense (232.2 yards per game) and have given up 112 passes of 10 or more yards.
Memphis will make this into a shootout, and Auburn's dysfunctional offense won't be able to keep up.
Memphis already has a win over Ole Miss and will get SEC win No. 2 over Auburn—which also notched just two conference wins this season.
Prediction: Memphis 45, Auburn 21
Belk Bowl: Mississippi State vs. NC State
3 of 10
Dec. 30, 3:30 p.m. ET at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina
If there's a chance for a bowl game to get weird, the Belk Bowl will likely be here for you.
Mississippi State has struggled defensively early in games, and there's plenty of firepower on the NC State side to take advantage of that. Nothing that quarterback Jacoby Brissett will see from the Bulldogs will shock him, after his solid career with both the Wolfpack and the Florida Gators.
But Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott can't go out a loser, can he?
Of course not.
Mississippi State will dig itself a hole, but Prescott will dig out of it with help from All-SEC wide receiver Fred Ross and De'Runnya Wilson, and head coach Dan Mullen's crew will polish off a 9-4 season and send Prescott out on a high note.
Prediction: Mississippi State 35, NC State 34
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Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl: Texas A&M vs. Louisville
4 of 10
Dec. 30, 7 p.m. ET at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson set the world on fire during rivalry weekend, rushing 17 times for 186 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cardinals to a 17-point deficit and win over rival Kentucky.
Texas A&M's defense had better get ready, because defending Jackson is going to be quite the challenge.
Luckily for Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis, defensive ends Myles Garrett and Daeshon Hall are incredibly fast and have a full month to prepare for what should be a dynamic Cardinals rushing attack.
Offensively, Kyle Allen needs to replicate the success he had in last year's Liberty Bowl in which he accounted for five touchdowns, own the starting quarterback job in College Station and set the offense up to become a force again in 2016.
He will, but there will be the typical play-calling issues from offensive coordinator Jake Spavital that will keep this game close for a while.
Prediction: Texas A&M 38, Louisville 31
Outback Bowl: Tennessee vs. Northwestern
5 of 10
Jan. 1, 2016, noon ET at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
Tennessee closed strong with five straight wins to finish off the season, and has the chance to carry that momentum into the offseason with a win over a solid Northwestern defense that has given up just 310.5 yards per game.
That will put pressure on quarterback Joshua Dobbs and running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara to establish the run, bring the safeties up and allow Dobbs to then take advantage of one-on-one matchups outside.
Head coach Butch Jones better let his quarterback sling it in those situations, because Dobbs is the key piece of the 2016 puzzle that should land the Vols in the SEC East title mix.
The Vols defense will be solid against a Northwestern offense that isn't remarkably creative, Dobbs will have a solid day through the air and on the ground and the Vols will become an offseason darling for the second straight season.
Prediction: Tennessee 42, Northwestern 17
Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl: Florida vs. Michigan
6 of 10
Jan. 1, 2016, 1 p.m. ET at the Orlando Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida
It became clear down the stretch that Florida's offense with Treon Harris at the helm is much different than the one that existed during the first six games that was led by pro-style quarterback Will Grier.
The Gators averaged just 294 yards per game in November and managed just 180 against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game.
The reward for the 10-3 Gators is a meeting with Michigan—the fourth-best defense in the country. The Wolverines gave up just 281.3 yards per game during the regular season and have 82 tackles for loss on the year.
The bowl game for Florida will look a lot like the SEC Championship Game, with a nonexistent offense and a quarterback who's running for his life.
Prediction: Michigan 24, Florida 13
Allstate Sugar Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State
7 of 10
Jan. 1, 2016, 8:30 p.m. ET at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Ole Miss will celebrate its nine-win season with its first trip to the Sugar Bowl since 1970 in what should be one of the most exciting bowl games of the season.
The Rebels lead the SEC in total offense (514.8 yards per game) and scoring offense (40.3 points per game), while the Cowboys racked up 489.5 yards of offense per game and scored 41.2 points per game.
If you want a shootout, this game will be for you.
The matchup between Rebels tackle Laremy Tunsil and Cowboys defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah will be what determines the outcome of the game. While the star defensive end will have some success, Tunsil will win the one-on-one matchup more, give quarterback Chad Kelly enough time to find his receivers and polish off a 10-win season for head coach Hugh Freeze.
Prediction: Ole Miss 45, Oklahoma State 42
TaxSlayer Bowl: Georgia vs. Penn State
8 of 10
Jan. 2, 2016, noon ET at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida
Neither Penn State nor Georgia have had the seasons they expected, but the matchup between the Nittany Lions and Bulldogs should provide plenty of intrigue.
Why?
Well, Penn State head coach James Franklin is never at a loss for words, will certainly take advantage of the opportunity to sell his program in a fertile recruiting ground and has history with Georgia dating back to the 2011 altercation on the field after the Vanderbilt-Georgia game.
Plus, getting to see junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg and his rather lackluster offensive line square off against this ultra-athletic Bulldogs front seven should be worth more than the price of admission.
This one will go down to the wire, but Hackenberg will polish off his junior season and perhaps his Penn State career with a solid performance and force the Bulldogs into a shootout in which they won't be able to keep up.
Prediction: Penn State 31, Georgia 23
AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Arkansas vs. Kansas State
9 of 10
Jan. 2, 2016, 3:20 p.m. ET at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee
Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen was snubbed by the conference's coaches in the postseason All-SEC team, and he will prove how much of a mistake that was by lighting up a Kansas State defense that has given up 283 passing yards per game—next-to-last in the pass-happy Big 12.
Allen tossed 14 touchdowns and just two interceptions during the month of November, developed quite a chemistry with receivers Drew Morgan and Dominique Reed, as well as tight end Hunter Henry; and offensive coordinator Dan Enos will love to send Allen off to the NFL with a strong performance.
Kansas State simply won't be able to keep up with head coach Bret Bielema's crew in this one.
Prediction: Arkansas 48, Kansas State 17
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Alabama vs. Michigan State
10 of 10Dec. 31, 8 p.m. ET at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
You couldn't have drawn up a better playoff semifinal matchup for Alabama than the Michigan State Spartans.
Nothing against Mark Dantonio's crew. The Big Ten championship is nothing to take lightly, and his team is one of the best in the country.
It just doesn't match up well with Alabama—a team that is well versed on defending pro-style teams since it sees one every day in practice.
The Spartans offensive line, while talented, will have its hands full with the Alabama front seven. Quarterback Connor Cook has been banged up with that shoulder injury, and while the month off will help, a few hits from the Tide won't help matters.
The Crimson Tide will stay conservative, let running back Derrick Henry loose and advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship with an old-school, smashmouth win over the Spartans.
Prediction: Alabama 24, Michigan State 16
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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