It should have been one of the best bowl seasons ever. Great match ups were just waiting to be had — the SEC vs. the best of the rest. Instead, it’ll go down as one of the worst bowl seasons ever.

Instead of a week of marquee match ups leading up to the BCS national championship game between No. 2 Alabama (12-1) and No. 1 Notre Dame (12-0) — one of the precious few bowls they got right — we have mismatches and games of little or no interest.

Simply put: The BCS whiffed again, and again and again.

Outside of the title game, the only good match ups are No. 8 LSU (10-2) vs. No. 14 Clemson (10-2) on Dec. 31 in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta and No. 9 Texas A&M (10-2) vs. No. 11 Oklahoma (10-2) on Jan. 1 in the Cotton Bowl. While No. 4 Oregon (11-1) vs. No. 5 Kansas State (11-1) on Jan. 3 in the Fiesta Bowl might intrigue some outside of the southeast, it’ll leave far more here wondering how those teams would have fared against teams from the mighty SEC.

Of less interest, but still somewhat intriguing is No. 10 South Carolina (10-2) vs. No. 18 Michigan (8-4) on Jan. 1 in the Outback Bowl and No. 7 Georgia (11-2) vs. No. 16 Nebraska (10-3) the same day in the Capital One Bowl.

The rest of the games they missed by a mile, and the truth of the matter is they could have done better on those listed in the previous paragraphs. Lets face it — LSU and Texas A&M will win handily, while Georgia and South Carolina will win downright big.

Games that would have made better prime-time television sense leading up to the night of the title game on Jan. 7 include:

• No. 7 Georgia (11-2) vs. No. 4 Oregon (11-1).

• No. 3 Florida (11-1) vs. No. 5 Kansas State (11-1).

• No. 8 LSU (10-2) vs. No. 6 Stanford (11-2).

• No. 9 Texas A&M (10-2) vs. No. 11 Oklahoma (10-2) [like I said, they OK on this one] or No. 12 Florida State (11-2).

• No. 10 South Carolina (10-2) vs. No. 11 Oklahoma (10-2) or No. 12 Florida State (11-2).

• No. 14 Clemson (10-2) vs. No. 13 Oregon State (9-3) or No. 16 Nebraska (10-3) or even Wisconsin (8-5).

With the exception of the last game listed, it could have been billed as, “The SEC vs. The Best of The Rest.”

“See how good the rest of the land stacks up against the mighty SEC,” the advertisements could have harkened.

Instead, we’re left to ponder such things as the fact that Oregon vs. Kansas State proves nothing and who cares what No. 3 Florida (11-1) does against No. 21 Louisville (10-2) or No. 12 Florida State (11-2) does against No. 15 Northern Illinois (12-1).

(John Sullivan is the sports editor at the Griffin Daily News.)