The SEC finally got its chance to shine as three Southeastern Conference teams tried to help improve the conference’s bowl record on SEC Saturday. Ole Miss took on Penn St. in the Peach Bowl. Auburn faced Maryland in the Music City Bowl. And Georgia squared off with Florida St. in the Orange Bowl. When the games were over, it answered some questions about how the SEC is faring in the bowls and decision made by the College Football Playoff Committee.

Orange Bowl: Georgia 63 | Florida St. 3

SEC Saturday ended with all eyes on the Orange Bowl. After the CFP Committee announced the four playoff teams, both Georgia and Florida St. had something to prove. Georgia entered the season the two-time reigning National Champions and held one of the top four spots all year long. But a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship game dropped them to sixth. Florida St. went undefeated and won the ACC, but an injury to their starting quarterback was a major reason why the committee chose to make them the first undefeated Power 5 Conference Champion to not make the playoff.

The game started out close as Georgia only led Florida St. 7-0 at the end of the first quarter. But the Bulldogs poured it on from the second quarter onward. Georgia scored a combined nine touchdowns in the game: four passing and five rushing. The Bulldogs outscored the Seminoles 35-3 in the second quarter alone. This was a wave of offense from a team that truly believes that it is one of the four best teams in the country even if it wasn’t picked as one of the four playoff teams.

Carson Beck passed for 203 yards and two touchdowns. Gunnar Stockton came in relief and only passed for 96 yards but still had two touchdowns of his own. Dominic Lovett, Anthony Evans III and Arian Smith rushed for a combined five touchdowns as Georgia fully dominated Florida St.

It should be noted that Florida St. starting quarterback Jordan Travis was injured in the regular season and unavailable for this bowl game. Backup QB Tate Rodemaker chose to enter the transfer portal once the team was left out of the CFP leaving passing duties to Brock Glenn. Glenn struggled in the ACC Championship Game and did not improve in this bowl game. While this game doesn’t prove that a healthy Florida St. was undeserving, it’s hard to look at this performance and say the committee got it wrong. However, it does raise questions about the decision to leave out Georgia.

Peach Bowl: Ole Miss 38 | Penn St. 25

Earlier in the day, the third-place teams in the SEC and Big Ten squared off in the Peach Bowl. Both Ole Miss and Penn St. finished the year 10-2. Both looked good against most opponents but faltered against the big dogs in their conferences. Ole Miss was manhandled by Alabama and Georgia. Penn St. was manhandled by Ohio St. and Michigan. These two were essentially the same team, making their bowl game more intriguing.

The Rebels and Nittany Lions went back-and-forth during the first half. Going into the break, Ole Miss led 20-17. The Rebels came out firing in the second half and never let up. Jaxson Dart passed for 379 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a fourth. Drew Allar held his own for Penn State, passing for 295 yards and two touchdowns of his own. The two teams that were basically the same team entering the game put on, arguably, the best bowl of the day. Ole Miss turned out to be better on this day.

Music City Bowl: Maryland 31 | Auburn 13

While the SEC opened and closed the SEC Saturday with a win, the middle game didn’t go so well for the conference. Auburn headed to Nashville for the Music City Bowl, but this game was all Maryland. The Terrapins led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter and never looked back, cruising to a 31-13 victory.

Maryland QBs Billy Edwards Jr. and Cameron Edge only completed a combined ten passes on 26 attempts. Still, both passed for a touchdown in the Terrapin win. The quarterback play wasn’t much better on the Auburn side. Payton Thorne only completed 13 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown before being benched for Hank Brown. Brown attempted fewer passes but completed them at a higher percentage for more yards than Thorne. Auburn’s loss prevented the SEC from going unbeaten on their Saturday in the spotlight.

Arizona Bowl: Wyoming 16 | Toledo 15

The Arizona Bowl was the only game featuring two Group of Five teams this SEC Saturday. Wyoming, representing the Mountain West, took on Toledo, representing the MAC. It was an odd back-and-forth game that ended with the Cowboys lassoing the Rockets 16-15 in the closest game of the day.

Wyoming jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but Toledo came firing back in the second quarter. At halftime, the Rockets led 10-6, but then things would take an odd turn in the second half. Toledo added a safety and a field goal in the third quarter while keeping Wyoming off the scoreboard. But, in the final frame, the Cowboys finally found the end zone, scoring ten points to secure the one-point victory.

Conference Bowl Records (Must Field 3 Teams Through Entire Bowl Season)

1. Big 10 (4-2)
2. Big 12 (5-3)
3. American (3-2)
4. PAC-12 (3-3)
5. SEC (3-3)
6. C-USA (2-2)
7. ACC (5-6)
8. Mountain West (3-4)
9. Sun Belt (5-7)
10. MAC (2-4)

New Years Day Games

The College Football Playoffs will take center stage on New Years Day. Alabama will face Michigan in the Rose Bowl in the first playoff game. In the second playoff game, Texas will take on Washington in the Sugar Bowl. But three bowl games will be held earlier in the day Monday to serve as CFP appetizers. Wisconsin will square off with LSU in the Reliaquest Bowl. Liberty and Oregon will face each other in the Fiesta Bowl. And Iowa will face Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl. Monday will be the final day of bowl games before the CFP National Championship Game on January 8th in Houston.

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