Welcome to SEC Unfiltered, the USA TODAY NETWORK’s daily newsletter on SEC football. Today, trending writer Nick Gray takes over:
Bowl season begins next week with a bunch of Group of 5 games, and the SEC slate begins Dec. 22 with the Armed Forces Bowl between Missouri and Army.
Thir bowls is a lot, and though there aren’t a ton of marquee matchups outside of the College Football Playoff semifinals among SEC teams, there are plenty of different and interesting games.
So let’s rank them.
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1. Alabama vs. Cincinnati — Cotton Bowl CFP Semifinal
2:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 in Arlington, Texas; Alabama -14
Love this matchup more than most Alabama playoff semifinal games. Cincinnati knows Alabama’s defense can be solved, but it can’t fall behind by a large margin early.
2. Georgia vs. Michigan — Orange Bowl CFP Semifinal
6:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 in Miami; Georgia -7.5
This has been an automatic No. 1 ranking for most bowl rankings, but I’m not buying into this matchup for Michigan. The Wolverines rely too much on the run game, and rely a lot on outside misdirection runs to keep defenses off balance. Cade McNamara has thrown for less than 200 yards the last two games, and that won’t fly on New Year’s Eve.
3. Tennessee vs. Purdue — Music City Bowl
2 p.m. on Dec. 30 in Nashville; Tennessee -3.5
Points. More points. Purdue will score points. Tennessee will score points.
4. Ole Miss vs. Baylor — Sugar Bowl
7:45 p.m. on Jan. 1 in New Orleans; Baylor -1.5
It’ll be fun to see one more Ole Miss game with Matt Corral, surely motivated by the Heisman finalist snub and the looming NFL Draft.
5. Arkansas vs. Penn State — Outback Bowl
11 a.m. on Jan. 1 in Tampa; Penn State -2.5
Arkansas and Penn State are both better than their records indicate. Penn State’s largest loss is a nine-point loss at Ohio State. The Razorbacks have one-score losses at Alabama and Ole Miss. Momentum for 2022, and all that narrative-related stuff.
6. Texas A&M vs. Wake Forest — Gator Bowl
10 a.m. on Dec. 31 in Jacksonville; Texas A&M -7
Texas A&M’s defense is really good, and Wake’s offense is really good. The Aggies’ offense isn’t good, and Wake’s defense is terrible. What will give?
7. Auburn vs. Houston — Birmingham Bowl
11 a.m. on Def. 28 in Birmingham; Auburn -3
This is a sneaky interesting game. Auburn’s offense has struggled a lot in November, and Houston is smarting from the AAC title game loss. Could be a matter of the team that shows up most ready to play.
8. Mississippi State vs. Texas Tech — Liberty Bowl
5:45 p.m. on Dec. 28 in Memphis; Mississippi State -8.5
The Mike Leach Bowl. The Red Raiders aren’t very good, and their pass defense is particularly poor. Will Rogers could have a big day.
9. Kentucky vs. Iowa — Citrus Bowl
12 p.m. on Jan. 1 in Orlando; Kentucky -2.5
It’ll be short and sweet, though don’t discount Kentucky hitting some big plays early to put pressure on Iowa’s anemic offense. If the Wildcats can run the ball successfully, this could be ugly. On the other hand, Iowa is +13 in turnover ratio while Kentucky is -13.
10. Florida vs. UCF — Gasparilla Bowl
6 p.m. on Dec. 23 in Tampa; Florida -7.5
It’s an in-state matchup we don’t see often, though this would have been in the top 3 of these rankings in any one of the last four years. Now, it’s Gus Malzahn and a meh Year 1 against a Florida team with an interim coach.
11. South Carolina vs. UNC — Duke’s Mayo Bowl
10:30 a.m. on Dec. 30 in Charlotte; UNC -7
This probably should be lower, because North Carolina has been a difficult watch at times. And few teams muck it up quite like South Carolina. Sam Howell will get one more game to boost his draft stock against a really good Gamecocks pass defense.
12. LSU vs. Kansas State — Texas Bowl
8 p.m. on Jan. 4 in Houston; No line
Max Johnson is in the transfer portal, Kayshon Boutte (and others) is out and LSU has an interim coach. K-State’s Deuce Vaughn is the nation’s best back under 180 pounds, and LSU’s front seven will have to be stout.
13. Missouri vs. Army — Armed Forces Bowl
7 p.m. on Dec. 22 in Fort Worth; Army -3.5
Missouri and Army will run the ball a lot. Other than that, I’ve got nothing.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: SEC football news: Ranking the league’s bowl matchups