The BR paper this morning had some good info on the bowl commitments.
For example, this year the Cotton Bowl is the 'fail safe' bowl for the loser of the SECCG guaranteeing the loser will not fall below the Cotton if the Sugar, Outback and Capital One Bowls don't take the SECCG loser.

ETA: Here is that entire scenario:

quote:
This year, the potential road block is the fact that the Cotton is contractually obligated to take the loser of the SEC Championship Game if it’s passed over as a BCS at-large team or the Capital One. Once every four years, the Cap One, Outback, Chick-fil-A and Cotton have to take turns as the “Safety Net Bowl.” And this year, it’s the Cotton’s turn, according to SEC and former LSU spokesman Herb Vincent.

No way that happens, you say. Well, how about this scenario: Missouri loses Saturday to Texas A&M, putting South Carolina in the SEC Championship Game at 9-3 despite a nonconference loss by the Gamecocks on Saturday to archrival Clemson. South Carolina then gets hammered by Alabama (assuming a win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl) in Atlanta.

Under that scenario, Alabama is 13-0 and BCS championship game-bound. Missouri and Auburn are both 10-2, with one likely headed to the Sugar Bowl and the other likely to the Cap One. The Outback could pick 9-4 South Carolina, but it prefers LSU or Texas A&M at 9-3. That leaves the Cotton to save a seat for the Gamecocks.

Such a scenario could put LSU back in the Chick-fil-A Bowl for the second straight year and the sixth time since 1996, which would be the most bowl appearances for LSU in any postseason game in that time span. Some national projections have that happening, but everyone intimately involved with the process seems to be aware of the lukewarm response LSU fans had to the Chick-fil-A last year. They might be downright cold to the idea if the opponent out of the ACC was Duke.

LINK

This post was edited on 11/26/13 at 8:57 am