SEC college football bowl affiliations, tie-ins
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The SEC bowl tie-ins and affiliations are largely unchanged over the previous few years, though the College Football Playoff bracket reveal will help set the team order.
Alabama is likely to be either the last at-large team into the CFP field or the first team out, depending on the bracket reveal on Dec. 7. The Crimson Tide, ranked 9th on Dec. 2, lost 28-7 to Georgia in a non-competitive SEC Championship Game.
Otherwise, SEC champion Georgia, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Oklahoma are safe bets to make the 12-team field.
10 SEC teams are bowl eligible, and with as many as five SEC programs in the CFP it’ll leave some affiliated bowls unfilled by the conference.
Vanderbilt, Texas and Tennessee should be attractive bowl teams to organizers.
An important note: Jan. 2, 2026 is the date when the transfer portal opens as a part of the new NCAA regulations. The AutoZone Liberty Bowl and the Duke’s Mayo Bowl both will be played on that date.
See the SEC bowl tie-ins and affiliations for the 2025 season below:
SEC bowl tie-ins, affiliations 2025
College Football Playoff, if applicable
1. Cheez-It Citrus Bowl vs. Big Ten
The next six bowls have no selection order; teams are selected based on proximity, matchups and other factors.
- ReliaQuest Bowl vs. Big Ten or ACC
- TaxSlayer Gator Bowl vs. ACC
- Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl vs. Big Ten
- Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. ACC
- Kinder’s Texas Bowl vs. Big 12
- AutoZone Liberty Bowl vs. Big 12
The next tier of games will be picked after the tier above. They have no selection order; teams are selected based on proximity, matchups and other factors.
- JLAB Birmingham Bowl vs. ACC/American
- Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl vs. ACC/American
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: What bowl game can my team go to? SEC bowl tie-ins, affiliations
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