MISSISSIPPI ST vs TULSA
When: 12/31/2020 12:00 PM
Where:

TV: 12:00 PM
LINE: -2.5
PREDICTION: TULSA , MISSISSIPPI ST

Oddsmakers currently have the TULSA listed as -2.5 point favorites versus the MISSISSIPPI ST, while the game’s total is sitting at 49.

At Mississippi State, bowl appearances are an annual occurrence.

No. 24 Tulsa, meanwhile, is set to end a brief postseason hiatus.

The Bulldogs (3-7) will make a school-record 11th consecutive bowl appearance, while the Golden Hurricane (6-2) will play in their first bowl since 2016 when they meet on New Year’s Eve in the Armed Forces Bowl at Fort Worth, Texas.

Tulsa beat Central Michigan 55-10 in the Miami Beach Bowl in 2016. Then the Golden Hurricane went 2-10, 3-9 and 4-8 before having a breakout season this year.

“Throughout this time I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs,” senior running back Corey Taylor II said. “It’s been a blessing to see how a championship team is created, and I believe this Tulsa team is definitely a championship team.”

Tulsa isn’t an official championship team, but it did go 6-0 in American Athletic Conference regular-season play to reach the conference title game against undefeated Cincinnati on Dec. 19. The Bearcats escaped with a 27-24 victory on a field goal as time expired.

“It has been a magical year for this group,” Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery said. “Now we get an opportunity to continue to play one more game.”

The Golden Hurricane had four games canceled because of COVID-19 issues, including a contest at Houston. Tulsa has 62 Texans on its roster who get a chance to play in their home state after all.

“Generally we’re playing at least one game a year down there whether that’s an SMU or a Houston,” Montgomery said. “For the guys (from Texas), it will be special to play this game in Fort Worth.”

Any location would be special for the Bulldogs, who usually have a winning record going into their bowl game.

Mississippi State played the two best games of coach Mike Leach’s first season in the first and last games of the season. The Bulldogs opened with a 44-34 road victory against defending national champion LSU, then lost seven of eight before finishing Dec. 19 with a 51-32 home victory against Missouri.

“We have been competitive all year,” said Leach, who has led 17 of his 19 teams as a head coach to bowl games. “We practice hard and play hard, we just do it incongruently. We just do it in spurts and kind of segmented.”

In between the first and last wins came a victory came against Vanderbilt. None of the Bulldogs’ triumphs came against a team that currently sports a winning record.

Mississippi State gained 446 total yards in the finale, including its first 100-yard rushing game of the season (151).

“It’s been a gradual process,” Leach said. “We’re not there yet, but we took a step (against Missouri).”

The season began with KJ Costello, a graduate transfer from Stanford, passing for a Southeastern Conference-record 623 yards against LSU, but gradually Leach transitioned to a youth movement.

Freshman Will Rogers took over the starting position at midseason, and he has passed for 1,828 yards. The Bulldogs’ true freshmen have combined for 146 receptions, the most among any team in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

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MISSISSIPPI ST vs ALABAMA
When: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, November 10, 2018
Where: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

TV: 3:30 PM
LINE: -24.5
PREDICTION: ALABAMA , MISSISSIPPI ST

Oddsmakers currently have the ALABAMA listed as -24.5 point favorites versus the MISSISSIPPI ST, while the game’s total is sitting at 51.5.

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is once again dealing with soreness in his right knee, but the sophomore standout says he will be on the field when the top-ranked Crimson Tide host 15th-ranked Mississippi State on Saturday in SEC play. Tagovailoa aggravated the troublesome knee during last Saturday’s 29-0 win over LSU, a game in which Alabama totaled 576 yards to top 500 for the ninth straight game.

Tagovailoa finally tossed his first interception of the season against LSU but also threw two touchdowns to raise his count to 27, three shy of the school mark held by AJ McCarron (2012). His stellar campaign is the prime reason why Alabama – which also is atop the College Football Playoff rankings – leads the nation in both scoring offense (51.3 points per game) and total offense (565.6 per game). The Bulldogs (16th CFP) are tied for second in scoring defense (11.3) and stand sixth in total defense (278.7) and are hoping senior quarterback Nick Fitzgerald can engineer an upset. “I need to be a leader and keep everybody calm, cool and collected,” Fitzgerald told reporters. “Don’t let it get into people’s heads that we are playing Alabama. We try to play to our standard every week and that is what we are going to do (this) week, as well.”

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Alabama -24.5

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (6-3, 2-3 SEC): Fitzgerald passed for four touchdowns and topped 100 yards rushing for the 19th time in his career as the Bulldogs rolled to a 45-3 victory over Louisiana Tech last Saturday. He has thrown for 1,252 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions while adding 839 yards and nine scores on the ground. Senior defensive end Montez Sweat has recorded 9.5 sacks to raise his career total to 20 (sixth in school history) while senior safety Johnathan Abram has a team-high 68 tackles.

ABOUT ALABAMA (9-0, 6-0): Tagovailoa is meshing well with sophomore wideout Jerry Jeudy, who caught eight passes for 103 yards against LSU for his fourth 100-yard outing of the season. Jeudy has caught 39 passes for 880 yards – a 22.6 average – and has 10 touchdown receptions, including two TDs in a game on four occasions. The defensive unit allows 14.1 points per game (seventh nationally) and 295.4 yards (11th) and sophomore nose guard Quinnen Williams had 3.5 tackles for loss (including 2.5 sacks) against LSU to increase his season total to a team-high 12.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Alabama has won the past 10 meetings, including a 31-24 victory last season.

2. The Bulldogs have scored 16 total points in their three defeats (against Kentucky, Florida and LSU).

3. Crimson Tide sophomore RB Najee Harris (ankle) and sophomore WR Henry Ruggs III (leg) were injured against LSU, but both are expected to be available Saturday.

PREDICTION: Alabama 35, Mississippi State 9

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MISSISSIPPI ST vs KANSAS ST
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 8, 2018
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, Kansas

TV: 12:00 PM
LINE:
PREDICTION: KANSAS ST , MISSISSIPPI ST

Oddsmakers currently have the KANSAS ST listed as point favorites versus the MISSISSIPPI ST, while the game’s total is sitting at .

The Joe Moorhead era at Mississippi State got off to a bang with a convincing win in Week 1, and expectations remain high for the first-year coach and a talented roster. The 18th-ranked Bulldogs will try to continue living up to those expectations when the schedule gets tougher with a trip to Kansas State on Saturday.

Backup quarterback Keytaon Thompson matched an SEC record with seven total touchdowns in Week 1 but will head back to the bench for Week 2 as starter Nick Fitzgerald returns to the lineup following a one-game suspension. “I think Fitzgerald handled it extremely well,” Moorhead told reporters. “He was sent down to scout team for the week, so he worked to give our defense a good look. He was mature during the week in meetings and on the field. On game day, he was a vocal presence on the sideline. He was a great resource for Thompson.” The Wildcats rotated two quarterbacks during a 27-24 victory over South Dakota in the opener and will continue using both Skylar Thompson and Alex Delton. “Skylar and Alex both had their positive moments, and both had their negative moments,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder told reporters. “I think, again, there wasn’t a dramatic separation between the two.”

TV: Noon, ET, ESPN. LINE: Mississippi State -9.5

ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (1-0): Fitzgerald is a dual threat like Thompson and finished last season with 1,782 yards passing and 15 TDs while rushing for 984 yards and 14 scores. The senior only completed 55.6 percent of his passes last season, and completion percentage is something Moorhead is examining. “We have 65 percent completion as our benchmark,” Moorhead told reporters. “Certainly, for us to operate at the level that we need to throughout the season and against the type of schedule we are going to play, the completion percentage and the yards per completion need to improve. That is something we are definitely going to address.”

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (1-0): While the Wildcats continue to figure things out on offense, the defense figures to get tested against the Bulldogs. Kansas State held the Coyotes scoreless in the second half last week, giving the offense enough time to pull out the win, but Snyder has some concerns moving forward. “Considering (South Dakota) threw it all night, I thought we defended reasonably well as far as completion percentage is concerned, but it’s giving up those deep throws and converting to get first downs with substantial yardage plays, 20-plus yard plays, that was a concern.”

EXTRA POINTS

1. Mississippi State is playing its first true road game against a Power 5 non-conference opponent since 2008.

2. Wildcats RB Alex Barnes fumbled three times in Week 1, losing two.

3. Fitzgerald is 462 yards shy of breaking Tim Tebow’s SEC record for rushing yards as a quarterback.

PREDICTION: Mississippi State 38, Kansas State 34

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