Thanksgiving in generally considered a NFL day, but the Egg Bowl will have something to say about that as Ole Miss will travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi State in the 116th installment of the Egg Bowl. These two teams first met back in 2901 when Mississippi State came away with a 17-0 victory.
Ole Miss enter play with nothing to play for on their end, but will be looking forward to trying to end Mississippi State’s bowl dreams. The Rebels will not be bowling for the fourth straight season and are on pace to have their worst season since the 2011 season when they went 2-10 (though all wins have been vacated from that season).
Mississippi State has a lot on the line Thanksgiving night as a loss will end their nine season bowl streak and will be the worst season in Starkville since Dan Mullen’s first season in 2009 when the Bulldogs also went 5-7.
Below is my pick for the Ole Miss Rebels at the Mississippi State Bulldogs. All lines are from the FanDuel Sportsbook.
Mississippi Rebels at Mississippi State Bulldogs (-2.5): O/U 58 points (-115/-105)
Ole Miss enter the Egg Bowl off a bye week, but also enter on a loss after losing 58-37, at home, to #1 LSU a few weeks back. The Rebels fell down 14-0 in the first quarter, and 28-0 overall, and were never able to get closer than 11 points in their defeat two weeks back. Ole Miss enter this big rivalry game having lost four of five games, with that lone win coming over 1-9 New Mexico State. The Rebels are 0-4 on the road this season, but have kept two of those games within one score. Ole Miss is 7-4 against the spread and the under has hit in six of their 11 games this season.
Mississippi State enters the Egg Bowl off a dominant win over FCS Abilene Christian last Saturday. The Bulldogs got out to a 21-0 start and never looked back as they inch closer to bowl eligibility. The win Saturday was just the second win in the last seven Mississippi State games, but the Bulldogs still remain bowl eligible. The Bulldogs are now 4-3 at home this season, but are just 1-2 in SEC play in Starkville. Mississippi State is 3-7 against the spread, in games with a listed spread, and the over has hit in seven of their 10 games with a total.
Series History: Ole Miss leads the all-time series 62-45-6, but Mississippi State came away with an easy 35-3 win last season.
Prediction: I like Mississippi State to win the Egg Bowl by a field goal so I am backing the Bulldogs -2.5 Thanksgiving night.
YTD College Football Results: 54-45-2