Reliaquest Bowl – Mississippi St vs Illinois
posted December 22
The Game
There’s a new sheriff in town, yo. The Reliaquest Bowl (formerly the Outback Bowl, Hall of Fame Bowl) gets us going on January 2nd and it features an interesting Big Ten vs SEC match-up. Mississippi St exceeded market expectations and bagged a win for MEGALOCKS SEASON WIN TOTAL CLUB members by going 8-4 and topping off a solid regular season with a win over Ole Miss. Illinois was one of the most pleasant surprises in the nation and they also finished 8-4 whilst staying in the Big Ten West race well into November. And don’t forget that they came THIS close to taking down mighty Michigan on the road.
It goes without saying that Mississippi St will be playing with heavy hearts after the tragic passing of HC Mike Leach.
The Details
Illinois -1 Mississippi St (46)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Pick em
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Illinois 23.5 Mississippi St 22.5
Illinois offense vs Mississippi St defense
The Illini rode the brilliant play of star RB Chase Brown all season long and he was one of the best players in college football during the 2022 regular season (1,643, 10 TD, 27 receptions, 3 TD). It’s unclear as we approach press time if he’ll play in the game or quit, and that decision will have a yuuuge impact on the game (duh). QB T DeVito is a solid game manager (15-4 TD to INT, 69.9%) but he isn’t the kind of dood that’ll be able to win you a game thru the air. Mississippi St has been decent on defense (#40 total D, #50 scoring D) and they were #5 in the SEC vs the run which is good news when facing Illinois.
Mississippi St offense vs Illinois defense
Mississippi St does almost all of their work thru the air (#11 FBS passing offense, #130 rush) and it’ll be up to the consistent Will Rogers (68%, 34-6 TD to INT) to find a way to dissect one of the best defenses in the country (#2 total defense, #1 scoring defense). Thankfully, Illinois will be missing some key players on defense, and that’ll make things a bit easier on Rogers and friends. The Bulldogs lost some WRs thru the transfer portal but they’re deep at the position.
Trends, Intangibles and More!
Mississippi St announced that DC Zach Arnett has been named HC for the 2023 season and he’ll coach in this game…..Illinois DC Ryan Walters is now the head man at Purdue…….Illinois is 8-11 in bowl games and they haven’t tasted bowl victory since the ultra-memorable 2011 Fight Hunger Bowl when they took down UCLA 20-14….Their HC Bret Bielema is 4-5 in bowl action over his career (Wisconsin, WOO PIG).
Summary
This is yet another really tough bowl game to figure out from a wagering perspective. New coaches and coordinators and a bunch of players missing from the regular season rosters. It seems like an event to just watch and enjoy.
Conclusion
No leanage.
Note:
‘Official play’ implies we have played the game for our standard wager amount.
‘Lean’ implies we are comfortable suggesting ‘small potatoes’ on the game if you want to get down on some sweet action.
‘No leanage’ implies we won’t be involved in the game from a betting standpoint. In-game wagering possibilities only.