News that SEC will again partner with the Independence Bowl may not necessarily bring celebratory shouts from some media members.

I'm not shouting, but I am pleased.

I've covered the game a couple of times through the years, once in the Snow Bowl with Mississippi State and once Eli Manning's junior year when the Rebels beat Nebraska.

It seemed to me that the bowl folks worked hard to put on a good event. The fact that the bowl is in Shreveport, well, to quote Mike Bianco, Rick Stansbury and many others ... "It is what it is."

The not-so-flattering remarks I heard usually had to do with location, not staff. I'm OK with the location. Being in Shreveport gives me a chance to reconnect with some college friends, as we did driving over for the College Station Regional.

This has seemed like a natural fit since the SEC added Missouri and Texas A&M. The Big 12 Conference was the other partner for a long time, so both new SEC members have a history with the game. You knew the league would be looking for another bowl tie.

The new agreement will have the 10th SEC team playing the seventh ACC team.

This assumes, of course, there are seven ACC teams available for the life of the deal.