2012 SEC Championship loser unlikely to land in Chik-fil-A Bowl

It's obvious that the winner of Saturday's SEC Championship game will head to Miami on Jan. 7 to face Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship game. But where the loser of Saturday's contest plays its bowl game remains a murky situation, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Due to a hint in a blog post written by Chick-fil-A Bowl chairman Leeman Bennett, though, it appears the loser will not be playing in Atlanta on Dec. 31.

"The final thing to consider would be our role to protect the runner-up in the SEC Championship Game that could see either Georgia or Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Bowl this year," Bennett wrote. "Again, not very likely, but something to consider."

The loser of the SEC Championship game would fall to the Chick-fil-A Bowl if it were not first selected by the Capital One Bowl in Orlando or the AT&T Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. With Florida likely headed to the BCS in the Nokia Sugar Bowl, it appears as if the loser of the SEC Championship game will play in either the Capital One Bowl or the AT&T Cotton Bowl.