How do you like me now? 

That has to be what every blogger who has defended the SEC conference against the claims of being "overated" wants to stand on his pick-up truck and shout.  In one of the craziest years in recent history in which ranked teams were falling as fast as Britney Spears inhibitions, the SEC beat each other up in their conference schedule.  But the teams have come through when it comes to matchups against their non-conference foes in the bowl games.

The SEC had nine teams earn a place in bowl games which is more the Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC.  Of those nine games, eight have been played with the SEC member team coming out on top in six of those contests. 

The only two losses being Arkansas - to a Missouri team playing with a huge chip on their shoulder after being snubbed by the BCS for one of their bowl games and Florida who was beaten by an inspired Michigan team wanting to send their coach, Lloyd Carr, out into retirement on a winning note.

Neither loss was that huge of a surprise.  Missouri plays in the Big 12, who historically has handled SEC teams pretty well and Arkansas has never regained their early-seaon defensive intensity since their big loss to Tennessee in their 10th game.

Lloyd Carr is 5-2 in his career at Michigan against SEC teams, but this was still a bit more surprising, with Florida having the ultra-mobile Tebow at quarterback and several good targets for him ot throw to.  Michigan used their size and ability to get off on the snap to put major pressure on Tebow causing him to have to take his eyes off of his receivers to salvage yardage and protect the ball.  They negated Florida's speed advantage on offense with a good zone scheme in the backfield and constant pressure at the line.  Lloyd Carr did a masterful job of coaching this game - Michigan WILL be sorry they dismissed him the way they did.

So here is a breakdown of how the conferences have shaped up in the Bowl Games with one game left to play on Monday Night.  No matter how that game turns out {LSU Wins}, the SEC will still hold a decided edge {OSU loses} in the bowl matchups from this year.

Conference-by-conference bowl records
How each has fared during the 32 postseason games:

Conference Schools Record Percentage
Sun Belt (1) Fla. Atlantic 1-0 1.000
MWC (5) AF,BYU,NM,TCU,Utah 4-1 .800
SEC (9) Ala,Ark,Aub,Fla,Ga,Ky,LSU,MissSt,Ten 6-2 .750
Pac-10 (6) ASU,Cal,Ore,OSU,UCLA,USC 4-2 .667
Big East (5) Cin,Rut,UConn,USF,WV 3-2 .600
Big 12 (8) CU,KU,Mis,OU,OSU,Tex,TexA&M,TT 5-3 .625
Big Ten (8) Ill,Ind,Mich,MichSt,OSU,PSU,Pur,Wis 3-4 .429
ACC (8) BC,Clem,FSU,GT,Mary,UVa.,VT,WF 2-6 .250
WAC (4) BSU,FresSt,Haw,Nev 1-3 .250
C-USA (6) EC,Hou,Mem,SMiss,Tul,UCF 1-4 .200
Independents (1) Navy 0-1 .000
MAC (3) BallSt,BG,CMich 0-2 .000

Records through 1/5

Georgia 41              Michigan 41              Missouri 38
Hawaii 10                Florida 35                  Arkansas 7

Tennessee 21       Mississippi St 10     Alabama 30
Wisconsin 17        UCF 3                         Colorado 24

Kentucky 35           Clemson 20              LSU
Florida St 28          Auburn 23                  Ohio State

That's it: My two cents worth.  No bravado - just proof by the numbers.