Let’s take our first look at projecting the bowl games for SEC teams:

BCS title game: Alabama vs. Texas Tech. Bruce Pearl beat Alabama in the postseason and got a job at Tennessee. Could it happen to Mike Leach?

Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Utah. Would Urban Meyer run up the score on his old team? Yes. Yes he would.

Capital One Bowl: Georgia vs. Ohio State. Another SEC team gets a turn at spanking Ohio State. Who’s got next?

Cotton Bowl: LSU vs. Oklahoma. I’m not sure this is the matchup Les Miles wants to see with his secondary.

Outback Bowl: South Carolina vs. Michigan State

Chick-fil-A Bowl: Kentucky vs. North Carolina. (Shhh, don’t tell Kentucky fans this is a football game)

Music City Bowl: Ole Miss vs. Georgia Tech

Liberty Bowl: Vanderbilt vs. Tulsa. I believe in you, Vandy. I believe. Sort of.

And that’s it. I don’t think the SEC will have enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the Independence and PapaJohns.com bowls, which means we’ll all get more Florida Atlantic in our lives. To the picks:

Georgia (-8.5) at Auburn: Remember how monumental this game seemed in the preseason? I doubt the three Daves had this one on the radar. Georgia hasn’t been blistered like this on defense since E.E. Jones was the coach in 1900. Well, E.E. Jones called, and said even his old team could stop this Auburn offense. (I know: I couldn’t believe he was still alive, either.)

Pick: Take UGA

Mississippi State (+22) at Alabama: Saw the CBS footage of LSU fans burning Nick Saban in effigy (which, as several people noted, actually looked like they were burning a cross, which made Saban look like Jesus, which I don’t think was the plan) and wondered, “What is the guy flipping channels in New York and seeing this on TV thinking right now?” I bet, when it comes to college football, people in the North are terrified of people in the South. It’s probably comparable to the way Americans look at European soccer fans.

Pick: MSU covers

South Carolina (+23) at Florida: Did you know that Florida actually had a more impressive scoring streak in 1996? In a six-game stretch starting with Tennessee, the Gators averaged 49.3 points and 521.7 yards per game. During this recent five-game outburst, the Gators are averaging 48.6 points and 446 yards per game. The 1996 defense was better, too. Steve Spurrier can at least think about that when his team is getting rolled Saturday.

Pick: SC covers

Vanderbilt (+4.5) at Kentucky: Nickson, Cobb...the SEC on ESPN!

Pick: Vandy covers

Louisiana-Monroe (+20.5) at Ole Miss: So let me get this straight: Greg Hardy was super-awesome last year, tried really hard and impressed everyone by being a great player on a horrible team. Now, Ole Miss is actually pretty good, on the verge of becoming bowl-eligible and Hardy...is a third-string defensive end and has been accused of not trying by his own coaches. “I’m going with Kentrell Lockett,” Ole Miss defensive line coach Tracy Rocker said. “That’s the guy till I see something different. We’ll see where Hardy fits in.” Maybe Hardy is sabotaging his season so he won’t be a mid first-round pick and can still have a chance to play for the Lions.

Pick: Take Ole Miss

Troy (+18.5) at LSU: And the award for Best Attempt to Defend Your Beleaguered Quarterback goes to...Les Miles! This is Miles defending Jarrett Lee, who has watched six of his interceptions get returned for touchdowns: “The guys who catch the ball seem to have a great lane to the end zone.” Says tight end Richard Dickson, defending the rest of the offense: “We don’t practice tackling defenders, but it is something we need to work on.” I doubt anything could crush Lee’s confidence more than LSU actually practicing tackling people after an interception.

Pick: Take LSU

Last week: 2-3 (third losing week in a row: yikes)

Season: 35-32-2