There are very few things more disheartening among SEC than the prospects of spending the bowl season at the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana . But a mediocre season and somewhere around an 11th place finish in the toughest conferences in the land will get you some nice parting gifts and an all expenses paid trip to the Port City. Teams and fans alike are sure to enjoy the oppressive heat, street violence, and…hey look, casinos! But this year, it means even more as the Indy Bowl is getting the band back together, bringing it’s SEC brethren back into that warm, possibly venereal disease-infested embrace that is the Red River twin cities.  And to commemorate this second chance at love, every week FOTP will be taking a look at which SEC teams have the best chance of going bowling in East Texas the third most glamorous city in the Bayou State.

1.  Ole Miss (4-3).  Firmly cemented in the top spot for a fourth straight week, the Rebels find themselves meeting up with the #2 team in this week’s poll, the Arkansas Razorbacks, in a game that I am demanding be called the “The Fray for the Port Cit-ay”…or “The Effort to get to Shreveport”…or “The Game that determines who gets to likely spend Christmas in the Holiday Inn near the Shreveport Regional Airport”…one of those, I haven’t decided which yet.   Both teams are coming off bye weeks following victories against the dregs of this year’s SEC, so theres plenty of false hope to go around…which is the perfect attitude for anyone heading to Shreveport during the Holidays.

2. Arkansas (3-4)  See above.  See also, this shirtless picture of John Daly.

3.  Some random MAC/Mountain West/CUSA/Sun Belt abomination.  With every passing week, this becomes more and more of a possibility.  The likelihood of the SEC having enough bowl eligible teams to fill all of its bowl tie in slots grows increasingly slim thanks to potentially multiple SEC BCS-qualifiers and the stellar seasons put up by the likes of Auburn and Mizzou.  However, I  do think that Shreveport is just dirty enough to handle a little holiday MACtion should that come to pass.

4.  Vandy (3-4)  With a couple more winnable games on the schedule (looking at you UMass, Kentucky, and Jim Grobe) and the alignment of the proper planets, the Dores may be dropping anchor in the Port City for the Holidays.  Word to the wise fellas, use protection.

5.  Tennessee (3-4)  It looks bleak now, but after this weekend UT has a stretch of 4 very winnable games in November.  And given that time of the season, no one would be more thankful to see a Shreveport, and thus apost-season bowl, more than Derek Dooley.

Out of poll from last week: hope, reason