South Alabama and Troy are both now bowl-eligible, so perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at where they might wind up in the postseason.

The Jaguars (6-2, 3-1 Sun Belt) picked up their sixth win just last week, beating Arkansas State 31-3 in Jonesboro. South Alabama is tied with Southern Miss for second place in the Sun Belt West Division, a half-game behind first-place Troy (6-2, 4-1).

The Sun Belt Conference has five guaranteed bowl tie-ins — Cure (Dec. 16 in Orlando), LendingTree (Dec. 17 in Mobile), Myrtle Beach (Dec. 19 in Conway, S.C.), New Orleans (Dec. 21) and Camellia (Dec. 27 in Montgomery). However, only the New Orleans — which picks first — and the LendingTree — which picks fifth — have a designated order of selection.

The other three bowls, plus any other “pool” games that might wind up with Sun Belt teams, will have their teams assigned in collaboration with the various conference offices and ESPN. In other words, with a month left in the regular season and the Sun Belt’s standings still fluid, bowl projections for South Alabama, Troy and others are still all over the place.

Let’s take a look at each, South Alabama first.

USA Today’s Erick Smith has the Jaguars going to New Orleans to face UT-San Antonio. This means Smith projects South Alabama to win the Sun Belt championship (the Jaguars would need some help to do it, likely starting with Louisiana beating Troy this weekend to counteract the Trojans’ head-to-head tiebreaker).

Four different projections — by ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and Athlon’s Steven Lassan — have South Alabama in the Camellia Bowl facing Buffalo, Liberty or Kent State. The first of two bowl trips in Jaguars history came to Montgomery, a loss to Bowling Green in 2014.

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and the staff of College Football News have South Alabama going to the Cure Bowl, one facing Air Force, the other facing Florida Atlantic. The Cure takes place on the first day of bowl season, less than two weeks after the conference championship games.

The Sporting News’ Bill Bender has the Jaguars staying home for their bowl game, albeit in the LendingTree Bowl vs. Buffalo. This seems highly unlikely for several reasons, including lack of interest from bowl officials to include a team that is not going to bring in many out-of-town travelers outside of players’ families.

Troy’s projections are also widespread, with Athlon putting the Trojans in New Orleans vs. UTSA. Again, that would mean Troy wins the Sun Belt championship.

USA Today and College Football News place Troy in the Camellia Bowl vs. either Western Kentucky or Toledo. That would be highly desirable for bowl officials, who have never had the Trojans in their game and would be eager to tap into Troy’s large alumni base in and around Montgomery.

ESPN’s Bonagura and CBS Sports both have the Trojans in the Birmingham Bowl (Dec. 27), one vs. Missouri and the other vs. Texas A&M. That would certainly excite the Troy fanbase, not to mention the team, which would have a chance to test itself vs. an SEC team for the second time this year (they lost their opener to Ole Miss).

ESPN’s Schlabach has Troy in the LendingTree Bowl vs. BYU. The Trojans have three times played in Mobile’s bowl game when it took place at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, most recently in a 42-32 victory over Buffalo in 2018.

For whatever reason, 247 Sports has Troy missing out on a bowl game. That seems highly unlikely, given that the Trojans have beaten both South Alabama and Southern Miss and have the inside track to play in the Sun Belt championship game.

There’s a lot of season left, so this situation remains highly volatile. We’ll have to see how it plays out.