Prior to the start of the New Year’s Day bowl buffet yesterday, our Zach Barnett noted that the SEC was currently leading the mythical Bowl Cup standings with a winning percentage of .800 (4-1). Five games later, and the conference has set some history for itself.
Friday, Ole Miss took Oklahoma State to the woodshed in the Sugar Bowl while Tennessee did the same to Northwestern in the Outback Bowl. Today, Georgia held on to beat Penn State in the TaxSlayer Bowl, while Arkansas thumped Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl.
Add in Florida’s Citrus Bowl beatdown at the hands of Michigan, and the SEC currently stands at 8-2 in the 2015-16 bowl cycle. It’s the former number in that won-loss record, though, that created the history spoke of earlier.
With Arkansas' win, the SEC now has 8 bowl wins this season, the most in FBS history. pic.twitter.com/l2LVQNZQt2
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 2, 2016
The SEC had won seven bowl games in 2014-15.
That new record might not last long, however, as the Pac-12 (6-2 currently) could get to eight wins tonight if Oregon (vs. TCU in the Alamo Bowl) and Arizona State (vs. West Virginia in the Cactus Bowl) both win to get that conference to the eight-win mark.
Of course, even if the Pac-12 does end up tying mark, the SEC could reclaim the standard with an Alabama win over Clemson in the College Football Championship game a week from Monday.