Nine SEC programs played in bowl games last year. The conference currently has 10 tie-ins. The league could has as many as 11 at the onset of the new College Football Playoff in 2014.

"According to a league source, the lineup could very well look like this: Sugar (New Orleans), Orange (rotational), Capital One (Orlando), Outback (Tampa), Belk (Charlotte), Meineke Car Care (Houston), Music City (Nashville), Liberty (Memphis) and BBVA Compass (Birmingham)," Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com reported. "The SEC is still in discussion with the Liberty and Compass Bowls, but the others appear set.

The Cotton and Chick-fil-A bowls are now part of the semifinal rotation and no longer a part of the SEC's stable of bowl games. They've been replaced by the Belk and Meineke Care Care bowls. The SEC is also likely to lose another long association with the AdvoCare V100 Bowl.

"The AdvoCare V100 (Shreveport) is part of the current SEC lineup but will be tough to keep because of the mushrooming lineup," a source told Fowler.

It's an opportunity for a league such as the American Athletic Conference to swoop in and possibly add another bowl tie-in the SEC will likely surrender.