UF notes: Six wins may not get bowl bid in SEC
Florida and South Carolina both came into Saturday night’s meeting with six wins, making them bowl-bound right?
Not necessarily this season, at least not in the Southeastern Conference. NCAA rules allow conferences to put a league member in a bowl with only six wins if it is necessary to fulfill bowl contracts. The SEC has eight bowl tie-ins.
NCAA rules do not allow a team with six wins to jump a seven-win squad for an at-large bowl bid. That means that if a team in another league has seven wins, an SEC team like Mississippi State — which got its sixth win by beating Alabama 17-12 on Saturday — will be left out in the cold if there is only one at-large berth left.
And that could happen.
“Even seven-win team in the country must be placed first before a six-win team can be placed (in a bowl),’’ SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom said. “The NCAA says you cannot displace a seven-win team in order to put a six-win team in a bowl in your conference contract.
“... If it came down to a six-win team and a seven-win team, the seven-win team must be taken.’’
There are 10 SEC teams that are bowl-eligible. The league has never had more than nine. Don’t expect it to happen this year, either.
“If you look around the country, a lot of the conferences are in the same position we’re in,’’ Bloom said. “They’re either going to be at their limit or above, in terms of number of bowl-eligible teams. “There are going to be very few, if any, at-large bids available, maybe three, maybe none, but not many. So it’s important to have seven wins.’’
The SEC’s best bowl scenario would be if LSU can get a spot in the national-title game — and the Tigers will likely move up to No. 1 in today’s polls — and a second team fulfills SEC’s contract with the Sugar Bowl.
That would leave spots for seven more teams in the bowls that the league has tie-ins with, for a total of nine bowl teams. A 10th squad would likely need to have seven wins and get lucky, with an opening at another bowl a conference couldn’t fill.
Almost a Gator
Dion Lecorn grew up in Ocala and played at Trinity Catholic under the coaching of former Gator quarterback Kerwin Bell, but didn’t get an offer to play at Florida.
Instead, another former Florida quarterback gobbled him up, and he was in the South Carolina wide receiver rotation Saturday as a true freshman.
“Maybe he’s got a little bit more talent than we thought,’’ Spurrier said. “Because he can catch it and go, he doesn’t catch it and fall down. ... He’s a good player, likes to play. And he’s a good blocker downfield.’’
Lecorn grew up a Gator fan, so when UF didn’t make him an offer, playing for Spurrier was the next best thing.
“It’s just like another game,’’ Lecorn insisted of playing against the Gators. “I have a few friends down there that I personally know, (like) John Brantley, our quarterback.’’
A year ago, John Brantley threw passes to Lecorn. Now John Brantley’s a Gator and Lecorn plays for a former Gator.
Honoring victims
The Gamecocks’ players are honoring the seven victims, including six South Carolina students and one from Clemson, who died in a fire at a North Carolina beach house Oct. 28 by wearing a special decal on their helmets for the remainder of the season. The decal reads: “FOREVER TO THEE.’’
There was also a mention in the pre-game prayer about their deaths and black ribbons were placed at each 25-yard line, with six garnet stars for the six USC students who were killed and one orange star in honor of the Clemson student who died.
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