The 'Everybody in the SEC Goes to a Bowl' Argument, Fair and Unfair?

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) I was preparing an article called "Larry's Losers in the SEC— Bowl Edition," when I went over the bowl matchups and sort of came to a point where I had to ask myself a lot of questions.

With everyone in the SEC going to a bowl but Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, one must ask the question: Is the SEC really that good, or do the bowls just cater to teams with huge followings?

Yes, there were more SEC teams in the top 25 this year than any other conference, and only a fool would say that haven't been running a string of great years, but still 10 out of 12 teams?

There is really only one way to justify that many teams from one conference going to so many different bowls and that is winning the great majority of them.

Teams with mediocre seasons just sneaking in that sixth win, like Tennessee, cause many outside the SEC to rise in anger.

Is a six-win SEC team more bowl worthy than a seven- or eight-win team that may have been left out?

Teams like Tennessee, Kentucky and even Georgia with its record this year, really need to win to quiet the naysayers. In fact, it's more important that they win over the more high profile bowls. People expect those bowls to go either way.

But a loss of one of those three would sure fire up the masses who say the SEC gets way too much love from the present bowl system.

As for picking the winners and losers, Bacardi and I are still baking smart cookies and gathering all the ingredients to make a sweep of the bowl season and end on a high note befitting of the kind of season we've had picking the losers all year long.

So you'll have to wait to see those for another time, but we can say we feel the SEC should do very well and help quiet the controversy.