It's getting toward that time of year again. Bowl season.
If you're an Ole Miss fan like myself, Christmas came early last Saturday, as we witnessed the Rebels claim a 59-0 smackdown of Louisiana Monroe. As much as the Rebels needed a total blowout, Christmas came early because it allowed Ole Miss to make its first bowl game since 2003.
Now, the question all over the Ole Miss message boards, Mississippi coffee shops around the state, and around the high schools of optimistic young fans is, "What bowl game will the Rebels go to?"
Well, never fear. I have a basic breakdown on how I see the bowl game shaping out for Ole Miss this season, and what to look for in the next 10 days of the regular season.
Before I do that, let's first take a look at the SEC bowl tie-ins order of selection, according to SECSports.com:
The Southeastern Conference has agreements to send nine of its member institutions to postseason bowl games following the 2008 season. The winner of the SEC Championship Game will automatically participate in the Bowl Championship Series comprised of the Sugar, Rose, Orange and Fiesta Bowls.
The Capital One (2nd), will then make its pick following the BCS selections. The bowl must select the team with the next best overall record or a team within one win of the team with the next best overall record.The Outback, Chick-fil-A and AT&T Cotton Bowls will work with the conference office to determine picks 3-5. The Cotton Bowl has the first preference of teams from the Western Division and the Outback Bowl has first preference of teams from the Eastern Division. The Cotton or Outback Bowl can select teams outside of its divisional preference, but must not select them before the opposite bowl selects from its divisional preference. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has the selection of preference following the Cotton and Outback Bowls.
In selections 6-7, the AutoZone Liberty and Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowls will make their selections, not in any specific order, but in consultation with the SEC Office. The Bowls will rank available qualified teams in order of preference. If there are no similarities in the order of selection, the bowls will be granted its selection. If the bowls rank the same teams in preference, the team involved in the process would get its preference of which bowl to participate.
The Petro Sun Independence Bowl will receive the eighth selection and the Papajohns.com Bowl will have the ninth selection of available SEC teams.
OK, in other words: Ole Miss' possible destinations include (all possible) the Outback Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Chick-fil-A Bowl, Music City Bowl, and the Liberty Bowl.
Let's look at the possibilities, according to how Ole Miss will finish the season:
If Ole Miss beats LSU and Mississippi State
This one is probably pretty easy. If Ole Miss defeats LSU and MSU, that would put the Rebs at 8-4 (5-3 in the SEC) and second in the West; in my opinion, that would bump them up to the Cotton Bowl. The chance at Tampa for the Outback Bowl is if the Cotton Bowl doesn't claim Ole Miss as its preference in the West and Georgia loses to Georgia Tech and, possibly, South Carolina loses to Clemson.
Likely Destination: Cotton Bowl (Outside Chance: Outback Bowl)
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about 1 month ago
Please leave your thoughts/comments/suggestions/feedback, etc. here.
I would be glad to answer your questions.
about 1 month ago
Think you got a pretty solid analysis on everything.
UGA will likely end up in the Cap One bowl, so that leaves the East with South Carolina, Vandy, and Kentucky. With two Ole Miss wins, and an LSU win over Arkansas, I don't think it's improbable for the Rebs to end up in Tampa while the Tigers still manage a trip to Dallas, especially if South Carolina drops another one. I say this because the Cotton loves LSU (and I say that without any pride). The Cotton took an 8-4 LSU team back in 2002, so there is some precedent for it.
However, my prediction is a Chick-fil-A Bowl (what was wrong with Peach Bowl?) berth for the Colonel Reb.
from about 1 month ago
Personally, if LSU beats Ole Miss, I think you're spot on. I think the winner of tomorrow's matchup has a spot in the Cotton, unless the Cotton screws both of them over and takes Notre Dame ==thumbs down==.
If Wake Forest beats Vandy, I could definitely see Vandy getting knocked out of contention for the Chick-fil-A or if Tennessee beats them tomorrow.
The thing Ole Miss might have over Vanderbilt is ticket allotment. With five wins and just down the road, Vanderbilt fans couldn't even sell out their ticket allotments to Starkville and sold like 800 tickets from what was posted on a message board this week.
Ole Miss will show up for the big games, and the first bowl game in five years classifies as a big game.
about 1 month ago
What if Bama loses to Auburn and Florida, wouldn't they get Cotton even after we win last two games
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