AUBURN, Ala. — More than just bragging rights will be on the line when Auburn and Georgia renew the Deep South’s oldest rivalry. Both teams’ bowl fate may well rest in the outcome of today’s game, as well.
The Tigers (7-3, 3-3 SEC) have already qualified for a bowl after missing out last year for the first time since 1999, Tommy Tuberville’s first year with the program.
“It was kind of rough sitting at home watching everyone else play and your season is over a whole month early,” Auburn running back Ben Tate said.
The Bulldogs (5-4, 3-3) hope to avoid that very fate, needing a victory in one of their final three games — vs. Auburn, vs. Kentucky, at No. 7 Georgia Tech — to extend their bowl streak to 13 years. Their current streak of 12 is tied for the fourth longest in FBS play.
“It is going to be a huge game for both of us,” Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran said. “If we win this game, we become bowl eligible, and if they win, that’s another win in their column to where they can go to an even better bowl game. A lot is riding on this game.”
Working under the assumption that both Florida and Alabama will garner bids to the BCS (one in the national title game and one in the Sugar Bowl), it doesn’t take long for the bowl order to get muddled.
The Capital One picks next, with LSU (7-2, 4-2) the odds on favorite to go to Orlando.
The Outback and Cotton bowls work with the conference for the next two picks, with the Chick-fil-A Bowl getting fifth choice.
The Cotton Bowl, which will be played at Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ new $1.8 billion stadium in Dallas, gets first preference from Western Division teams, which will include Auburn, Mississippi (6-3, 2-3) and Arkansas (5-4, 2-4).
The Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., gets first pick of the Eastern Division teams, a group that will likely include Georgia, a suddenly resurgent Tennessee (5-4, 2-3), South Carolina (6-4, 3-4) and possibly Kentucky (5-4, 1-4).
Both bowls can pick a team outside of its division but has to wait until the other bowl chooses from its preferred division. The Cotton hasn’t picked a non-Western Division team since 2005. The Outback hasn’t taken a non-Eastern Division team since 1996.
So what does that mean for Auburn and Georgia? It’s hard to tell at this point.
If Auburn wins out, a scenario that requires it to beat No. 3 Alabama in the season finale, it could jump up to the Capital One Bowl. A win over either Georgia or Alabama would probably lock up a Cotton Bowl bid. Losing twice would drop the Tigers into a group of SEC teams that could be looking at any of the lower-tiered bowls.
The Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., and the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn, pick together at sixth and seventh. The Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., and PapaJohns.com Bowl in Birmingham, Ala., get the final two picks.
With South Carolina fading fast and Kentucky struggling to get eligible, Georgia is essentially jockeying for position in the Eastern Division bowl picture with Tennessee,
A win coupled with a Tennessee loss at Ole Miss this week would give the Bulldogs the inside track at the Outback Bowl. A loss and a Vols win would do the opposite, knocking Georgia down to the next tier of bowl games.
Players on both teams know the bowls will sort themselves out once the games are finished.
“It runs through your mind, but at the same time you have to win before you can get to a bowl,” Auburn linebacker Craig Stevens said. “Mostly we’ve just been focusing on who’s the next opponent and how we can come out with a victory.”
E-Mail
Print
@Nyx.CommentBody@