Jimmy’s blog: SEC will rebound from back-to-back losing records in bowls

By Jimmy Hyams

Each of the past two years, the SEC has had a losing record in bowl games.

In a conference where it “just means more,’’ the SEC had two teams play for the national championship last season but went 4-5 in bowls and lost to Central Florida (Auburn), Notre Dame (LSU), Northwestern (Kentucky), Wake Forest (Texas A&M) and Texas (Missouri).

Two years ago, the SEC went 6-7.

In 2015, the SEC set a record for bowls wins, going 9-2.

Can this season’s bowl matchups produce a repeat of 2015? Odds-makers think so. Based on point spreads, the SEC should go 9-2 with Alabama advancing to the national title game.

During the last weekend of the season we went 8-1 with our SEC picks and finished the regular season 94-16.

Here are our bowl picks for the SEC.

Vanderbilt 27, Baylor 24.

Auburn 34, Purdue 27

Michigan 20, Florida 17.

South Carolina 34, Virginia 30.

Missouri 40, Oklahoma State 37

Texas A&M 37, NC State 34

Mississippi State 23, Iowa 16

Penn State 24, Kentucky 23

LSU 27, Central Florida 24

Georgia 40, Texas 34