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Rival Views: Which coach needs a bowl win the most?

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney don’t always see eye to eye. In this edition of Rival Views, the two debate about which coach needs a win in their bowl game the most.

MORE: Five new five-stars in latest Rivals100 | Updated Rivals100 for class of 2017

FARRELL'S VIEW: TEXAS A&M'S KEVIN SUMLIN

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Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin desperately needs a win this postseason for a few reasons. Sumlin was on the hot seat heading into the year mainly because his program has a reputation of starting off hot and fizzling down the stretch. Guess what? The same thing happened this season. The Aggies were undefeated and ranked No. 6 in the country heading into their game against Alabama on Oct. 22. Since then Sumlin's team has gone 2-4 with no meaningful wins and a pair of bad losses to Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

Falling from potential playoff contender in late October to the Texas Bowl on Dec. 28 is a big drop off. It's also familiar territory to Aggie fans as they have watched this movie before. Even if Texas A&M beats Kansas State soundly, the hot seat will be waiting for Sumlin next season. If the Aggies lose? Things could get even uglier, especially with the off-the-field stuff - quarterback transfers, embarrassing moves by assistant coaches, etc. - added in.

GORNEY'S VIEW: TENNESSEE'S BUTCH JONES

Tennessee was a trendy pick in the preseason to make a run at the College Football Playoff, a lot of talent returned on both sides of the ball and things were really looking up in Knoxville.

Until they weren’t.

The Vols needed overtime to beat Appalachian State, they didn’t look inspired against Ohio, needed a last-second Hail Mary to beat Georgia, lost at South Carolina and in the regular-season finale with a potential Sugar Bowl berth on the line, Tennessee lost at Vanderbilt by 11.

Hey, at least the Volunteers beat Florida for the first time in more than a decade.

But 8-4 was not the season Tennessee expected. Four wins and four losses in the SEC is not what the Vols’ faithful expected. Getting turned away from the SEC Championship Game in favor of Florida is not what anyone in Knoxville expected.

It was another disappointing struggle of a season.

So Tennessee will go to the Music City Bowl and play Nebraska on Dec. 30. That’s a far cry from the College Football Playoff, but it’s still crucially important for Butch Jones and his future.

At some point, this ship needs to be righted. A loss to Nebraska takes a sour season and makes this offseason even worse. A win at least puts the Vols headed on the right track for the next many months before next year gets ramped up.

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