Ranking the Watchability of the SEC's Bowl Games in 2022

Alabama missed out on the College Football Playoff but the Crimson Tide will play in the Sugar Bowl, one of 11 SEC teams in a postseason game.

Author:
Eric Sorenson
Updated:
Dec 13, 2022
Original:
Dec 12, 2022

The college football bowl season is upon us once again and as usual, the SEC has a glut of teams that will be hitting the road and playing in postseason games as a reward for another dominating season on the gridiron. Only thing is, there is just one SEC team in the College Football Playoff this time, that being No. 1-ranked Georgia. But of the 41 bowl games that are being played, 11 of them will feature SEC teams. And also, two teams have reached one of the high-profile New Year’s Day bowls as Tennessee is in the Orange Bowl and Alabama will play in the Sugar Bowl.

So what are the best SEC bowl games to watch, we got you. Oh, and what are the worst bowl games you can feel free to skip and go for a long hike with the dog? Yep, we got them all laid out for you too. We’ll start from the worst and count down to the best. Plenty of storylines to follow here.

Let’s get started.

Note: All times are ET.

11. TransPerfect Music City Bowl – Iowa (7-5) vs. Kentucky (7-5)

Sat., Dec. 31 – ABC at 12 p.m. (Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn.)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Oh, this one could be a really head-nodding snooze-fest. The one thing that was going to be something to look forward to was seeing how Kentucky QB Will Levis was going to fare against that fierce Iowa defense. Now Levis is opting out of the bowl game, so there is nearly nothing to look forward to… except a pair of single-digit scores on the scoreboard.

10. Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl – Missouri (6-6) vs. Wake Forest (7-5)

Fri., Dec. 23 – ESPN at 6:30 p.m. (Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Well lookie here, the Tigers aren’t toothless after all. Yep, Mizzou is going to a bowl game for the second straight season. Ever since they gave up 35 points in the third quarter vs. Louisville, Wake Forest has gone 1-4 down the stretch. Mizzou went 4-2 over the second half of its schedule, including three victories over other bowl-bound teams. The Tigers haven’t had a winning season since 2018 and can fix that here.

9. AutoZone Liberty Bowl – Arkansas (6-6) vs. Kansas (6-6)

Wed., Dec. 28 – ESPN at 5:30 p.m. (Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tenn.)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

This is the wear-the-bag-over-your-head bowl as both teams come in with ignominious .500 records (in the glory days of college football both teams would be sitting at home this postseason). Neither team is all that impressive as Kansas has lost its last three games by giving up 145 combined points. Arkansas has dropped three of its last four but have held opponents to just 90 points in those contests. The state of Arkansas is still peeved that the state of Kansas took part of its name when it became a state in 1861.

8. Cheez-It Citrus Bowl – LSU (9-4) vs. Purdue (8-5)

Mon., Jan. 2 – ABC at 1 p.m. (Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Ugh. This is another of those typical SEC-vs-Big Ten matchups where it totally comes down to which team wants to be there. Sure, they’re both really close statistically with LSU’s offense posting 442 yards per game and Purdue’s averaging 410 yards per game. Defensively the Tigers relent 362 yards per game and the Boilermakers give up 350 yards per game. But for what it’s worth Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm is 4-2 against the spread in bowl games… oh crud, he’s gone to Louisville now. Nevermind.

7. ReliaQuest Bowl – Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Illinois (8-4)

Mon., Jan. 2 – ESPN2 at 12 p.m. (Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

This is actually one of the more interesting undercards in the bowl lineup but the setting for this game has changed drastically following the unexpected death of Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach on Dec. 12 due to complications from a heart condition. For now, defensive coordinator Zach Arnett will lead the Bulldogs and their high-octane offense that averages 33 points and 393 yards per game, but the Illini play defense with a Butkus-like fervor, allowing just 12.7 points per game. Illinois will try to control the game by grinding out yards on the ground, which makes running back Chase Brown and his 1,643 rushing yards the most important player to watch.

6. TaxSlayer Gator Bowl – South Carolina (8-4) vs. Notre Dame (8-4)

Fri., Dec. 30 – ESPN at 3:30 p.m. (TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Man alive, no team in the country has been hotter than the Gamecocks down the stretch run having beaten a pair of top-10 teams in then-No. 5 Tennessee 63-38 and then-No. 8 Clemson 31-30. The Irish haven’t played too bad either going 5-1 in their last six, including a 35-14 rout of Clemson and giving USC all it could handle.

5. SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl – Florida (6-6) vs. Oregon State (9-3)

Sat., Dec. 16 – ESPN at 2:30 p.m. (Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

This is one of those all-too-rare SEC-Pac 12 matchups. It will also be a great example of if the SEC really is that much better than the Pac-12. The .500 Gators will go into this one without quarterback Anthony Richardson, who has declared for the NFL draft. They will also be double-digit underdogs against a Beavers team that has a much better defense than the Gators do. Let's see if the Gators can represent their conference well.

4. Capital One Orange Bowl – Tennessee (10-2) vs. Clemson (11-2)

Fri., Dec. 30 – ESPN at 8:30 p.m. (Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

Call this the Gamecock Victims Bowl as both teams were ranked in the top 10 in the last few weeks but lost to South Carolina in a pair of upsets. The Volunteers are the top offense in the country, averaging 538.1 yards per game thanks in large part to the hyper-talented quarterbacking of Hendon Hooker, who is out with a torn ACL. Meanwhile, the Vols will be looking across the line at a pretty stout Clemson defense, which was the third-best unit in the ACC in the regular season, allowing just 20.1 points per game. The absence of Hooker and the possibility of some other key players sitting this one out takes some of the shine off this game.

3. TaxAct Texas Bowl – Ole Miss (8-4) vs. Texas Tech (7-5)

Wed., Dec. 28 – ESPN at 9 p.m. (NRG Stadium in Houston)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

This should be a lot of fun. Nobody outside of the military academies runs the ball like Ole Miss, who average 261.2 yards per game on the ground and will feature their talented freshman Quinshon Judkins, who has piled up an impressive 1,476 yards this year. Texas Tech ranks 90th in rushing defense, giving up 161 yards per game. So that doesn’t look good for Double-T, right? Look for the Red Raiders to try to control the game through the air, as they pass for an average of 307 yards per game.

2. Allstate Sugar Bowl – Alabama (10-2) vs. Kansas State (10-3)

Sat., Dec. 31 – ESPN at 12 p.m. (Caesars Superdome in New Orleans)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

What makes this game so intriguing is that all things being equal the Crimson Tide should be a huge favorite here. But since they were snubbed by the College Football Playoff, it’s hard to tell where their heads will be in this one. The Wildcats? Oh, they are geeked to be in New Orleans, coming off a Big 12 title game win over TCU and all. Will Bryce Young play with passion for the Tide (or will he play at all)? Will there be a bunch of opt-outs by the time kickoff comes around? Will Deuce Vaughn run wild against Bama? This one has more questions than most bowl games.

1. Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (College Football Playoff Semifinal) – Georgia (13-0) vs. Ohio State (11-1)

Sat., Dec. 31 – ESPN at 8 p.m. (Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta)/live stream on fuboTV (Start your free trial)

If you had told me at the beginning of the season that these two would meet in the postseason it’d been no shock at all. I just figured it’d be in the title game. But here we are. Still should be a killer game between these two blue bloods. Statistically they are very similar, especially on offense where the Stetson Bennett vs. C.J. Stroud matchup will be a thing of beauty. Especially since both defenses are coming in having been severely dented in the last game as Michigan run up 530 yards on the Buckeyes and LSU posted 549 yards on the Bulldogs. So it seems whichever defense shakes that rust off first will play for the national championship.

— Written by Eric Sorenson, who is part of the Athlon Contributor Network. He is a college football, college baseball and college hockey addict... and writer. Follow him on Twitter @Stitch_Head.