After Alabama’s 27-20 loss to Michigan in the semi-finals of the 2023-2024 College Football Playoffs, the Southeastern Conference’s bowl season has officially come to a close.
Nine SEC teams including Texas A&M, Missouri, Kentucky, Georgia, Ole Miss, Auburn, Tennessee, Alabama, and LSU all took part in a bowl game this year.
All in all, the SEC went 5-4 in bowl games this season and barely squeaked out a winning record thanks to wins from Tennessee and LSU on New Year’s Day.
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Texas A&M was the first SEC team to play in the 2023-2024 bowl slate as the Aggies fell to No. 20 Oklahoma State in the TaxAct Texas Bowl on December 27. The Cowboys jumped out to a huge 24-6 lead over the Aggies at halftime in Houston but Texas A&M came back to outscore Oklahoma State 17-7 in the second half of play. Ultimately, Texas A&M’s comeback effort fell short on an interception during a hail mary attempt on the final play of the game.
0-1.
The next SEC team to play was Kentucky as the Wildcats matched up against No. 22 Clemson in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on December 29. Kentucky held on to a 21-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter but watched as the Tigers put up four touchdowns in the final frame to win a high-scoring contest 38-35. Kentucky put up 14 points of their own in the final quarter but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats blew the game in the final 15 minutes.
0-2.
No. 9 Missouri took on No. 7 Ohio State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on December 29 and took down the Buckeyes by a score of 14-3 in Dallas, Texas. Ohio State was forced to move to a third string quarterback due to injury early in the game and just couldn’t find any offensive success in the Cowboys’ stadium. Still, though, Missouri trailed for a good portion of the game after Ohio State’s first quarter field goal. The Tigers put up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
1-2.
A trio of SEC teams played on December 30 with Auburn’s Music City Bowl appearance against Maryland leading off the day from Nashville. Auburn fell to Maryland by a score of 31-13 on Saturday as the Terrapins’ 21-point first quarter was just too much for the Tigers to overcome.
1-3. Not looking good, but this is where things start to turn.
No. 11 Ole Miss took down No. 10 Penn State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl from Atlanta later that afternoon in a convincing victory over the Big Ten team. Lane Kiffin’s offensive unit scored double-digit points in the first three quarters of the game as Penn State just wasn’t able to mount a comeback throughout the contest. The Rebels won the game by a score of 38-25, cementing themselves as one of the teams that will be insanely talked about heading into the 2024 season.
2-3.
Then came Georgia. Oh, Georgia. While much of the conversation this past month revolved around whether Florida State was robbed of a college football playoff spot or not, the Bulldogs did their best to make their case known. Yes, Florida State was missing key players, but so was Georgia and most Top 25 teams around the nation, too. The No. 6 Bulldogs simply annihilated and punked the No. 5 Seminoles by a score of 63-3 in a blowout victory in the Capital One Orange Bowl.
3-3.
It all came down to New Year’s Day after that with another trio of SEC teams playing ball.
First up on January 1 was No. 13 LSU against Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl from Raymond James Stadium. Talk about a game of runs between the Badgers and the Tigers. Wisconsin began the game on a 14-0 run which was matched by a 14-0 run from LSU. Wisconsin then had a 14-0 run at the end of the second quarter and the start of the third quarter which was matched by, you guessed it, a 14-0 run from LSU in the third quarter. The Tigers ended up winning the game thanks to a 7-0 fourth quarter that gave LSU the victory by a score of 35-31.
4-3.
Then came No. 21 Tennessee against No. 17 Iowa in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day. Who was feeling the cheeziest on Monday? Well, Tennessee, that’s who. Specifically freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava and star defensive EDGE rusher James Pearce Jr. Tennessee’s defense made Iowa shift quarterbacks about three quarters through the game and the Vols’ offense scored more points on the Hawkeyes’ defense than any other team this season. Tennessee shut out Iowa 35-0 on Monday in Orlando.
5-3.
And, finally, after all the talk about who should have and who could have gotten the fourth seed in the College Football Playoffs, No. 4 Alabama fell to No. 1 Michigan in overtime of the Rose Bowl in California. The game came down to a final play from Alabama’s offense with fourth and goal from the three yard line, but a low snap forced quarterback Jalen Milroe to change plans and run up the middle but was stuffed by Michigan’s defense. Game over.
5-4.
For the first time in seemingly forever (okay, the last eight years), the National Championship game will not feature a team from the Southeastern Conference. You’d have to go back to the inaugural College Football Playoff championship in 2014 to find a matchup between Ohio State and Oregon for that stat.
And there you have it. The Southeastern Conference’s 2023-2024 bowl season in a nutshell.
