Mississippi State vs. Rice

This has been the best season for Rice in quite some time. In fact, it is their first outright conference title since all the way back in 1957. They will be making consecutive Bowl appearances for just the second time in school history, so all of this is a big deal for Rice. Mississippi State sat at 4-6 with the need to win their final two games to get here. They did so with both games coming in overtime. Talk about squeaking in. Rice will be highly motivated here as a win puts this team in the record books since no Rice team has ever won 11 games. I just don't see Miss State getting motivated to play Rice, and they are lucky to even be here to begin with. The SEC has a strong reputation, but when a 6-6 SEC team plays in a Bowl game as a favorite, they are just 5-9 ATS. And, none of them has ever been favored by seven points or more. The SEC has such a big reputation that the oddsmakers have loaded the line here on a fringe Bowl team. And, under head coach David Bailiff, the Owls are 9-2 ATS with extra time to prepare. Go with Rice.