ESPN’s latest bowl projections after Week 4 paint a busy postseason picture for the SEC, with 13 teams still in the mix and only three left out of the field entirely.
South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Arkansas are the lone SEC programs that did not land in either Kyle Bonagura’s or Mark Schlabach’s updated projections. Everyone else from the league shows up somewhere on the board, and for several teams, the road points straight toward the College Football Playoff.
Florida is projected into the playoff by both analysts, though the seeding flips. Bonagura has the Gators facing No.
9 Florida in a first-round matchup with No. 8 BYU, while Schlabach has the same pairing with Florida and BYU swapped in the bracket.
Georgia is also in the playoff picture, with Bonagura slotting the Bulldogs into a quarterfinal against No. 8 BYU as the No. 1 seed. Schlabach did not list a projection for Georgia in the update.
Texas appears in both playoff forecasts as well. Bonagura has the Longhorns meeting Boise State in a first-round game as the No. 5 seed, while Schlabach takes Texas all the way to a quarterfinal matchup as the No. 1 seed against No. 8 Florida.
Ole Miss is another SEC team both analysts pushed into the playoff field. In each projection, the Rebels are slotted as No. 11 and matched up with No. 6 Ohio State in a first-round game.
Beyond the playoff spots, the bowl slate is filled out with familiar SEC names in a range of December destinations. Auburn shows up in two different places: Bonagura has the Tigers in the Gator Bowl against Duke, while Schlabach sends them to the Liberty Bowl against Kansas State.
LSU is projected to the Citrus Bowl in both forecasts, with Penn State on the other side. Kentucky is listed as LSU in the source text, followed by the same Citrus Bowl matchup in both projections.
Mississippi State lands in the postseason either way, though the opponent changes. Bonagura projects the Bulldogs in the Music City Bowl against Iowa, while Schlabach has them in the Gator Bowl against SMU.
Missouri is also in the mix. Bonagura sends Mizzou to the Liberty Bowl to face Houston, while Schlabach places the Tigers in the Las Vegas Bowl against USC.
Oklahoma appears in two different bowls as well. Bonagura has the Sooners in the Las Vegas Bowl against USC, while Schlabach puts them in the Birmingham Bowl against NC State.
Tennessee’s destination depends on which projection you follow. Bonagura has the Vols in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Nebraska, and Schlabach has them in the same bowl against Michigan.
Texas A&M rounds out the SEC group with a pair of Texas Bowl projections. Bonagura has the Aggies facing Cincinnati, while Schlabach sends them there against Oklahoma State.
In Other News...
LSU Just Turned One Huge Concern Into Real SEC Hope
After the disappointment against Ole Miss, LSU needed a response that looked and felt different, and Saturdays 35-6 rout of Texas A&M delivered exactly that. The Tigers moved the ball at will, piling up more than 500 yards on offense, with quarterback Sam Leavitt throwing for over 300 yards and two touchdowns while the defense set the tone by overwhelming the Aggies up front.
The broader picture matters even more for a team trying to keep its SEC path alive under Lane Kiffin. LSU held Texas A&M to fewer than 200 total yards and repeatedly disrupted the rhythm of the game with sacks and turnovers, a level of control that had been missing in the loss to Ole Miss. Whether it proves to be the reset this season needed will depend on what comes next, but this was the kind of complete performance that can change the conversation quickly. [Read more 🡒]
LSU May Have Found A New Defensive Difference Maker
LSU left College Station with plenty of individual performances worth sorting through, but the defensive emergence of true freshman Deuce Geralds stands out as the kind of development that can change the feel of a front seven. After turning in a sack and two tackles for loss against Texas A&M, Geralds was named overall Game MVP and also picked up SEC Freshman of the Week honors, a strong sign that the Tigers may have another disruptive piece to work with as the season moves deeper into conference play.
Geralds was hardly the only Tiger making noise on that side of the ball. Tamarcus Cooley added two tackles, a sack and an interception, while Princewill Umanmielen kept his own pressure streak going with another sack to reach seven on the season. LSUs defense has been looking for a player who can consistently tilt a game, and after this outing, Geralds has at least made himself part of that conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Is Suddenly Right In The Middle Of A Five-Star WR Fight
The race for Easton Royal is getting tighter by the week, and Florida has forced its way into the conversation for one of the nations top 2027 wide receiver recruits. Royal is already committed to Texas, but he has also taken official visits to Florida, LSU and Ole Miss, a sign that his recruitment is far from settled despite that pledge.
Royal said he can see himself playing at Florida and is close to making a decision, which only raises the stakes for the SEC schools still pushing hard. For LSU, that means the Tigers remain in the middle of a crowded battle for a receiver who has kept his options open and shown a willingness to keep looking even after his commitment to the Longhorns. [Read more 🡒]