Sugar Bowl 2012: The Top 3 Teams To Replace the SEC in the Sugar Bowl

With the last week of the regular college football season come and gone, we now prepared to head into the college football bowl postseason play, where teams get to come together one more time before we officially head into the offseason to prepare for yet another wild football season.

The most anticipated bowls will of course be the BCS Bowls, where the champions of their respective conferences, or teams of high caliber that qualify, will face one another on college football's biggest stages, and have truly separated themselves as the best in their respective conferences.

One of these particular bowls  is the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Last season's matchup pitted the Arkansas Razorbacks against the Ohio State Buckeyes, who proved themselves victorious against Arkansas. But, this year, there will be no third SEC team, with the Alabama Crimson Tide likely headed for a rematch against LSU in the BCS National Championship.

So now the question becomes this: what teams will step into that spot to replace that SEC team that would normally play in that spot?

Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines have one of the best chances to be that replacement, especially if things fall in their favor, which has been the case thus far, especially with the loss of several teams above them.

With Michigan's 10-2 record, they are up for an at-large BCS Bowl bid, and have been projected for several weeks to head to the Sugar Bowl. How they get there will depend upon several things, including them jumping up several spots from their No. 16 ranking into the Top 14 of the BCS Rankings.

And this spot will also depend upon whether the projections prove correct and Alabama ends up playing in the National Championship, which is very likely, despite Oklahoma State's blowout victory against the Oklahoma Sooners.

Things fell in the correct places for the Wolverines, and they must leave it up to the BCS where they will end up, and hope that several key teams (Baylor, TCU and Clemson) do not jump above them and leave them on the outside looking in.

Boise State

The Boise State Broncos are another at-large BCS Bowl bid team that are still eligible for that spot in the Sugar Bowl despite their loss against TCU; last season, their loss against Nevada knocked them out of the BCS. However, with the likely Bama-LSU rematch waiting in the wings, the Broncos still have a shot at the Sugar Bowl.

With their 10-1 record, they are an intriguing option to go against someone like Michigan, who is looking more and more like it will receive the selection from the Sugar Bowl if it moves up enough in the polls to become an at-large team for a BCS Bowl bid.

At 11-1, Boise State has a great chance to clinch that spot, but it will depend upon the actions of teams like TCU and Kansas State, who also have a chance to be selected, as well.

Kansas State

The Kansas State Wildcats are, like Boise State, another at-large BCS team that could also receive a bid. But, like the Broncos, they will have to closely monitor the activity of TCU and Michigan, who, if they move up enough, will be in the running for the Sugar Bowl Bid.While Michigan is the arly favorite to receive a bid, TCU remains a darkhorse for the 10-2 Wildcats.

The Wildcats, should TCU not make any kind of moves, have the potential to be matched up against the Wolverines, though they must also be wary of Boise State, another at-large team who is still in the running for a bid into the Sugar Bowl.