FAYETTEVILLE — At 3-7, Arkansas is in contention to play in a bowl game this season.
Minimum-win eligibility requirements were scrapped for bowl games this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, so teams with losing records are expected to receive invitations. The bowl matchups will be set by Sunday.
The SEC could have double-digit teams selected to play in a bowl this season, based on College Football Playoff rankings and the league's bowl affiliations. Two — and possibly more — SEC teams could be included in the New Year's Six bowl games, which include the two national semifinal games at the Sugar and Rose bowls.
Entering the final week of the regular season, Alabama (10-0) is No. 1 in the playoff rankings and Texas A&M (8-1) is No. 5.
With a victory over No. 7 Florida in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, Alabama would clinch a spot in the College Football Playoff. Texas A&M, which is scheduled to play Tennessee this week, also has a chance of making the playoff. The Aggies' only loss this season came at Alabama in their second game.
The top-ranked SEC team that does not make the playoff would represent the league in one of the other four New Year's Six bowl games, which are the Orange, Fiesta, Peach and Cotton. Texas A&M is most likely to represent the SEC as the top-ranked, non-playoff team, but either Florida or No. 8 Georgia would be in line for that distinction if the Aggies make the playoff.
There is also a possibility the SEC could place multiple teams in the non-semifinal New Year's Six bowl games. More SEC teams in the New Year's Six games increases the likelihood of a higher-quality bowl game for SEC teams lower in the pecking order.
Once the New Year's Six games are set, the rest of the bowl games will fall into place. The Citrus Bowl gets first pick among the remaining SEC teams.
After the Citrus, six bowls that are referred to by the SEC as the "pool of six" select teams on a collaborative basis. Five of those bowls — the Outback, Gator, Music City, Liberty and Texas — select an SEC team each year, while the sixth bowl rotates.
The sixth bowl in the pool of six this year will be the Armed Forces Bowl, scheduled for Dec. 31 on the TCU campus in Fort Worth, Texas. The Armed Forces Bowl — which will match an SEC team against a team from the Pac-12 — replaced the Las Vegas Bowl in the SEC bowl rotation this season after the Las Vegas Bowl was canceled.
The Las Vegas Bowl is an SEC-affiliated bowl in even-numbered years through 2025. The Duke's Mayo Bowl (formerly Belk Bowl) in Charlotte, N.C., will be an SEC bowl tie in during the next three odd-numbered years.
Based on SEC standings, Arkansas might fall into the pool-of-six selection process this year. The Razorbacks are tied with Tennessee for the ninth-most wins in the league this season, but LSU — which has one more win than Arkansas — has self imposed a bowl ban.
Records are not a sole determining factor in which teams are chosen for bowl games. A team's proximity, marketability and history with each bowl are all factored.
Among most likely bowls, Arkansas' campus is located closest to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., and the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth. The Razorbacks have played in the Liberty Bowl five times, most recently to conclude the 2015 season. Arkansas has never played in the Armed Forces Bowl.
After those games, the next-closest pool of six games in proximity are the Texas Bowl in Houston and the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn. The Razorbacks have played in those bowl games once apiece — at the Texas Bowl in 2014 and the Music City Bowl in 2002.
Arkansas has never played at the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. The Razorbacks have played at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., twice, but not since 1981.
After the pool of six bowls choose, the SEC has additional bowl ties with the Jan. 1 Birmingham Bowl and the Dec. 26 Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa. Those bowls also have the potential to choose teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and American Athletic Conference.
Arkansas has not played in a bowl game since 2016 when the Razorbacks lost 35-24 to Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl.
First-year Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said he thinks his team is deserving of a bowl bid on multiple occasions in recent weeks. In a normal season Pittman said three SEC victories — when coupled with a four-game nonconference schedule — would typically be enough to qualify for a bowl game.
The Razorbacks were originally scheduled to play home nonconference games against Nevada, Charleston Southern and Louisiana-Monroe, and a road game at No. 2 Notre Dame this season.
Arkansas has lost four consecutive games since beginning the season 3-3, including a 52-3 loss at home to Alabama in the regular-season finale last week.
Of the Razorbacks' seven losses, four are to teams ranked in the top eight in this week's playoff rankings — Alabama, Texas A&M, Florida and Georgia. Arkansas' games against Florida and Georgia were added after the SEC pivoted to a 10-game, conference-only schedule.
2020 SEC Bowl Affiliations
Gasparilla Bowl, Dec. 26, Tampa, Fla. — SEC/ACC/American
Music City Bowl, Dec. 30, Nashville, Tenn. — SEC vs. Big Ten
Texas Bowl, Dec. 31, Houston — SEC vs. Big 12
Liberty Bowl, Dec. 31, Memphis, Tenn. — SEC vs. Big 12
Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 31, Fort Worth, Texas — SEC vs. Pac-12
Citrus Bowl, Jan. 1, Orlando, Fla. — SEC vs. Big Ten
Birmingham Bowl, Jan. 1, Birmingham, Ala. — SEC/ACC/American
Outback Bowl, Jan. 2, Tampa, Fla. — SEC vs. Big Ten
Gator Bowl, Jan. 2, Jacksonville, Fla. — SEC vs. ACC
List does not include New Year's Six bowls that might include SEC teams