BIRMNGHAM, Alabama (December 20, 2020) – Twelve Southeastern Conference football teams learned their post-season bowl destinations on Sunday, including No. 1-ranked Alabama which will play No. 4 Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl in Arlington, Texas, on January 1 in a semifinal game for the College Football Playoff. In addition, three other SEC teams will play in the CFP’s New Year’s Six Games.
On Sunday, the College Football Playoff committee first selected teams for the national semifinal games, the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl presented by Capital One. The committee later announced the participants in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Playstation Fiesta Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl and Goodyear Cotton Bowl.
In addition to Alabama’s appearance in the CFP Semifinal Game, other New Year’s Six games will feature Texas A&M versus North Carolina in the Orange Bowl, Florida versus Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl and Georgia versus Cincinnati in the Peach Bowl.
Next, the VRBO Citrus Bowl selected Auburn from the SEC to play Northwestern of the Big Ten.
This marks the seventh year the Conference has assigned league schools to an “SEC Bowl Pool” that includes six postseason games. The Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl in Houston, the TransPerfect Music City Bowl in Nashville, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville and the Outback Bowl in Tampa have been in the SEC Bowl Pool all six years. This year, the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl joins the SEC Bowl Pool for only the 2020 postseason.
For assignment of bowl games, SEC teams were ranked, without regard to divisions, based on winning percentage and after application of tie breakers. Based upon this ranked order, each team was asked to select its bowl destination based on available remaining bowls.
Missouri will play in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, Ole Miss will play in the Outback Bowl, Kentucky will play in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, Arkansas will play in the Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl, Tennessee will play in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl and Mississippi State will play in the Armed Forces Bowl.
Following the SEC Bowl Pool, the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl selected South Carolina.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF BOWLS
Rose Bowl presented by Capital One (Arlington) – Alabama vs. Notre Dame – Jan. 1 – 5 pm ET / 4 CT – ESPN
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Atlanta) – Georgia vs. Cincinnati – Jan. 1 – 12:30 pm ET / 11:30 am CT – ESPN
Capital One Orange Bowl (Miami) – Texas A&M vs. North Carolina – Jan. 2 – 8 pm ET / 7 pm CT – ESPN
Goodyear Cotton Bowl (Dallas) – Florida vs. Oklahoma – Dec. 30 – 7:15 pm ET / 6:15 pm CT – ESPN
SEC-AFFILIATED BOWLS:
VRBO Citrus Bowl (Orlando) – Auburn vs. Northwestern – Jan. 1 – 1 pm ET / Noon CT – ABC
SEC Bowl Pool:
TransPerfect Music City Bowl (Nashville) – Missouri vs. Big Ten – Dec. 30 – 3:30 pm ET / 2:30 pm CT – ESPN
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth) – Mississippi State vs. AAC – Dec. 31 – Noon ET / 11 am CT – ESPN
AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis) – Tennessee vs. Big 12 – Dec. 31 – 4 pm ET / 3 pm CT – ESPN
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl (Houston) – Arkansas vs. Big 12 – Dec. 31 – 8 pm ET / 7 pm CT – ESPN
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) – Kentucky vs. ACC – Jan. 2 – Noon ET / 11 am CT – ESPN
Outback Bowl (Tampa) – Ole Miss vs. Big Ten – Jan. 2 – 12:30 pm ET / 11:30 am CT – ABC
Additional SEC-Affiliated Bowl:
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa) – South Carolina vs. CUSA – Dec. 26 – Noon ET / 11 am CT – ABC
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