Final 2012 BCS rankings: Gators have everything to lose in Sugar Bowl

Despite not winning the SEC title, or even winning the SEC East, the Florida Gators are headed to a BCS bowl, thanks to finishing third in the final BCS standings -- four spots ahead of the Georgia Bulldogs, who lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC title game.

Georgia, despite winning the SEC East, will play in the Capital One Bowl.

As you'd expect, Gators fans over at Alligator Army, SB Nation's Florida Gators blog, are excited to be playing in one of the BCS bowls, and have already started looking ahead to the Sugar Bowl.

When the Gators take the field for the final time of the 2012-2013 season, it'll be in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the Louisville Cardinals, who are the Big East's representative in the BCS bowls.

Andy Hutchins over at Alligator Army believes that the Gators have "everything to lose" in this year's Sugar Bowl.

Florida's spot in this Sugar Bowl reminds me a lot of Alabama's in the 2009 Sugar Bowl: After narrowly missing on a chance to be holding crystal at year's end, an SEC team gets back into the national conversation as an elite program and a chance to hammer home the "We're baaack" message against a heavy underdog.

Utah won that Sugar Bowl. And though I think Florida's less likely to come out flat than that Alabama team was, and less susceptible to Louisville, the parallels between Will Muschamp's Florida tenure and Nick Saban's reign at Alabama have been uncanny to this point.

Florida will have to gameplan against one of college football's most exciting players, Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and contain him if they're going to avoid the upset.

The Sugar Bowl will kickoff at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Jan. 2.