Bowling for Respect: SEC Postseason Picture Going To Be Revealing

(Chris Todd will be one of several signal-callers looking on with great interest at the bowl selections.)

It seems like, more often than not, when somebody brings up the college bowl system, the conversation quickly devolves into an argument about its flaws. The BCS is skewed (maybe), there are too many bowls (probably), a playoff would be better (not necessarily).

In truth, there's a lot more good about bowl season than bad. It's a way of rewarding players for a season of hard work, a chance for small schools to get on national TV, and big schools to build momentum or erase the pain of an average season.

In the SEC, this year's bowl season will be even more important, because the way it shakes out will be a good barometer of national perceptions of the conference's non-elite.

(Whoa, SEC? Yes, SEC. I know I'm usually over on the Georgia Tech page, and proud to be so, but with the Jackets on a bye, I thought I'd throw my hat in another ring for a day.)

Let us assume, for the sake of this argument, that the winner of the SEC Championship next month will go to the BCS title game, and therefore the loser the Sugar Bowl. LSU will take the Capital One Bowl nod as the next-best team, and after that, the scene melts like a toy soldier in a microwave.

As of right now, six SEC teams—Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee—all appear poised to finish the season at least 7-5. In Ole Miss' case, it will probably 8-4.

In other words, as Mark Richt put it, there's going to be "a big wad" of teams all clumped together, waiting for bowl reps to call.

The SEC has eight bowl tie-ins , not counting participation in the BCS, so getting the six aforementioned teams plus Alabama, Kentucky, Florida and LSU into the postseason shouldn't be a problem.

It's how those bowls are doled out that is going to send a message about who's on the rise in the SEC, and who's not.

Should Ole Miss finish 8-4, they would obviously be the most attractive next team (after LSU). They went to the Cotton Bowl last year, and technically the Capital One Bowl could pick an 8-4 Ole Miss team (but not a 7-5 team if LSU wins once more, as the Capital One folks have to take the next best team or a team within one win of next best).

The Cotton Bowl and Outback Bowl are next, and while it's a little more complicated, what you need to know is each is likely to pick a West team and an East team, respectively, based on certain agreements and affiliations. 

Dallas would be the most obvious choice for Ole Miss should they not go to Orlando, but the Rebels were there just last year, and bowls tend to shy away from inviting the same girl to the dance two years running. If that was a concern, the Cotton Bowl folks could easily nab Auburn or Arkansas here as well.

The Outback Bowl has its pick, too, of 7-5 East teams, though the logical choice would come down to Georgia or Tennessee.

Again, that choice begets more haziness.

Pick Georgia, and Tennessee might fall as far as the Music City Bowl, if Auburn is still on the board and the Chick-Fil-A Bowl wants a piece of the nearby Auburn fanbase.

Pick Tennessee and, assuming a Clemson loss in the ACC title game, Chick-Fil-A Bowl representatives would fall in love with a remake of an old rivalry between the ACC's Tigers and the Bulldogs.

The possibilities are endless, we could go on for hours with different combinations, but the fact remains: When making postseason selections, bowl committees look not just at records or likely attendance, but also at what kind of team they're inviting.

Example: Is Auburn a scrappy underdog that over-performed in Gene Chizik's first year, or a team with a shallow depth chart propped up by a gimmick offense and a good running back?

Is Georgia a program on the decline with the sudden nascence of new recruiting powers like Auburn and Tennessee, or are the Bulldogs just suffering through some necessary growing pains, building on the present toward another bright future?

We could have those arguments all day too, and about every team. And you'd better believe bowl committees will be doing the same kind of talking.

This could all be a moot point if say, Arkansas can't win one of its last two, Kentucky shocks the conference and beats Georgia or Tennessee, or Auburn shocks the world and upsets Alabama. It seems almost certain, given the parity of the conference this year, that not every one of the aforementioned teams is going to finish at 7-5 or better.

But when was the last time the SEC bowl map was such a complete mystery this close to Thanksgiving? I could just as easily see Chizik's Tigers in the Cotton Bowl as I could the Independence Bowl, with a 7-5 record either way.

We'll find out soon enough, and when we do, it's going to send a loud and clear message to the conference about who's rising, who's falling, and where Lane Kiffin's hate mail will be going come New Year's.