FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas is one of four SEC teams being considered for the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., the bowl announced Wednesday.
The bowl is scheduled for a 10 a.m. kickoff on Dec. 31 at EverBank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
TaxSlayer Bowl officials said they are considering Florida, Kentucky and Auburn from the SEC, along with Arkansas.
But Kentucky, which upset Louisville last Saturday to finish 7-5, could have the inside track, especially if No. 1 Alabama defeats Florida in the SEC Championship game. The Crimson Tide are 24-point favorites.
"That scenario, if that would take place, Kentucky is the major contender for our bowl game," TaxSlayer Bowl president Rick Catlett told SEC Country on Wednesday. "I think that would put Kentucky on the top of our list."
No. 14 Auburn (8-4) is expected to receive an invitation to the Sugar Bowl as the highest-ranked SEC team not in the College Football Playoff, as long as Alabama beats Florida. Bowl insiders expect 15th-ranked Florida (8-3) to play in either the Citrus or Outback bowls with a loss this weekend.
In addition to the SEC, the TaxSlayer Bowl has affiliations with the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten, but it will choose an ACC team this year because it has hosted Iowa and Penn State from the Big Ten the past two years.
Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina and Virginia Tech are in consideration for from the ACC, the bowl announced.
Arkansas has played two bowl games in Jacksonville, when the game was known as the Gator Bowl. Arkansas lost 31-27 to North Carolina in 1981. The Razorbacks beat Georgia Tech 14-7 in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2, 1960.
Arkansas and Georgia were high on the Music City Bowl's radar heading into last weekend. However, the Hogs' 28-24 loss at Missouri, Georgia's 28-27 loss to Georgia Tech, and Tennessee's 45-34 loss at Vanderbilt jumbled the contenders for the Nashville, Tenn.-based bowl, which is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Dec. 30.
"I would say after last weekend's games, just being in Nashville and we've only had Tennessee one time in our 18-year history, that we're interested in Tennessee," Music City Bowl President Scott Ramsey said. "There were some pretty major losses last weekend, with Tennessee, Georgia and even Arkansas, so that changed some things from what we were kind of thinking going into the weekend."
The SEC is guaranteed to have a team in the Sugar Bowl, but a third SEC team is not expected to play in the six bowl games -- known as the New Year's 6 -- affiliated with the playoff poll.
After the playoffs, the Citrus Bowl gets first pick of SEC teams and is expected to take either LSU or Florida, while the Outback Bowl is expected to take the other.
Texas A&M is seen as a likely matchup for the Texas Bowl. That would mean the three other Pool of Six bowls -- Belk, TaxSlayer and Liberty -- would likely choose from Arkansas, Kentucky and Georgia, who are all 7-5.
Georgia played in the TaxSlayer Bowl last season and the Belk Bowl in 2014, making it a logical choice for the Liberty Bowl, where is hasn't played since 2010.
SEC spokesman Herb Vincent, in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday, said the league aims to "minimize frequent appearances for a school in the same bowl over a period of time," but there is no specific time frame tied to bowl appearances.
Neither Arkansas nor Kentucky has ever played in the Belk Bowl or any postseason game in North Carolina. The Belk Bowl, which is played at Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 29, will pit an SEC team against a team from the ACC.
Kentucky's Lexington campus is about 400 miles from the Belk Bowl. It is more than 900 miles from Arkansas' Fayetteville campus to Charlotte.
Belk Bowl executive director Will Webb was out of his office Wednesday and did not return a phone call seeking comment about the game's interest in Arkansas.
If Arkansas were to fall past the Pool of Six bowls, it would play in either the Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 29 or the Independence Bowl on Dec. 26.
Independence Bowl executive director Missy Setters said her bowl is in "kind of a waiting pattern" now because the selections in front of the Shreveport, La.-based bowl are still fuzzy. But Setters said Arkansas is an attractive option.
"From a regional standpoint, any time you get a team that's within driving distance it makes a lot of sense," Setters said. "Also, Arkansas has had a good number of players from this area over the years."
The Razorbacks have never played in the Birmingham Bowl, which selects before the Independence, but has twice played postseason games in Birmingham, Ala. -- the 1980 Hall of Fame Bowl against Tulane and 1948 Dixie Bowl against William & Mary.
When reached by phone, Birmingham Bowl executive director Mark Meadows referred questions to ESPN, owner of the bowl game. An ESPN representative said the company would not discuss any potential matchups.
"We are engaged in a process with the participating leagues and will work with them to create matchups based on what is available at the time of our selection," a spokesperson wrote in an email.
Sports on 12/01/2016