The SEC has gone and made some money in the 2011-12 season. Nine of their 12 member schools have managed to become bowl eligible. Predictably, all nine of those teams were invited to play in bowl games, due to the ticket sales and television audience that they will likely produce. The Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers face off in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game, but there are seven other bowls involving teams from the SEC.
Five out of the eight bowls involving SEC teams are January bowl games, an incredible haul for one conference. The earliest bowl game involving an SEC team is on Dec. 30. Seriously. Here's the entire schedule of bowl games involving SEC teams.
Music City Bowl: Dec. 30, 6:40 p.m. ET
Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Liberty Bowl: Dec. 31, 3:30 p.m. ET
Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET
Auburn Tigers vs. Virginia Cavaliers
Gator Bowl: Jan. 2, 1 p.m. ET
Florida Gators vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Capitol One Bowl: Jan. 2, 1 p.m. ET
South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Outback Bowl: Jan. 2, 1 p.m. ET
Georgia Bulldogs vs. Michigan State Spartans
Cotton Bowl: Jan. 6, 8 p.m. ET
Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Kansas State Wildcats
BCS National Championship Game: Jan. 9, 8:30 p.m. ET
LSU Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
For more on each bowl game pairing and a complete schedule, stay tuned to SB Nation's 2011 college football bowl game coverage. And visit our many college football blogs.