SEC Notebook: Teams looking ahead to bowl games

Georgia will have to settle for the Capital One Bowl despite almost making it to the BCS National Championship Game. (US Presswire)

A look at some of the top bowl-related headlines across SEC country Monday morning. The full bowl schedule is available here.

• We'll start at the top with Alabama and Notre Dame officially making it to the BCS National Championship Game. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly knows he'll have his work cut out for him in preparing for the Crimson Tide. "We know about the SEC. They have dominated, they are the preeminent conference, they've proven it on the field," Kelly told AL.com. "Alabama has been the benchmark for college football -- three out of the four national championship games."
  
  
• Meanwhile, Georgia, which fell just short of a trip to the title game, will have to settle for a trip to the Capital One Bowl to play Nebraska. It's a solid bowl, but not where they were hoping to land. “There's no question -- there's absolutely no question -- that we are deserving of a BCS bid," Georgia AD Greg McGarity told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "There's no question we played great the last half of the season and just to see the way we laid it on the line (Saturday) proved that we're right there along with the best in college football.”
  
  
• Florida received the second BCS Bowl bid from the SEC and will face off against Louisville in the Sugar Bowl. The Gators will be facing a familiar face in Louisville coach Charlie Strong, a former defensive coordinator at Florida. “Coach Strong was a huge part of two national championships here,” Florida coach Will Muschamp told the Florida Times-Union. “I've got a lot of respect for him. He's one of the good guys in this profession.”
  
  
• Ole Miss didn't get as much attention Sunday for its selection into the BBVA Compass Bowl, but coach Hugh Freeze did one of the best jobs in the SEC this season, turning a two-win team in 2011 into a bowl-eligible one in 2012. “Whether it's Birmingham or Alaska, we are excited about being selected and we know Rebel nation will respond accordingly and pack out the stadium,” Old Miss AD Ross Bjork told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

For more up-to-the minute news and analysis from SEC bloggers Larry Hartstein and Daniel Lewis, follow @CBSSportsSEC.