Cotton Bowl: Mississippi vs. Texas Tech Preview

The Mississippi Rebels won’t get as much press and public betting as their opponent in this year’s Cotton Bowl. But beware Ole Miss as they battle the Texas Tech Red Raiders January 2.
While the Red Raiders were highly ranked and their offense highly feared, the Rebels were quietly beating Auburn, Arkansas, LSU and Florida. Not bad for a team sitting as a TD underdog.

Oddsmakers currently have the Red Raiders listed as 5-point favorites versus the Rebels, while the game’s total is sitting at 66.

Mississippi blanked Mississippi State 45-0 as an 18-point favorite last time out. The combined score fell UNDER the posted over/under total (48).

Jevan Snead passed for 214 yards with four touchdowns for the Rebels, while Mike Wallace caught four passes for 105 and two touchdowns in the win.

Texas Tech scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat Baylor 35-28 in Week 14.

The Red Raiders did not cover the 22.5-point spread, while the final score played UNDER the day’s posted total of 70.

Team records:
Mississippi: 8-4 SU, 8-3 ATS
Texas Tech: 11-1 SU, 5-4-1 ATS

Mississippi most recently:
When playing in January are 1-0
When playing on grass are 3-7
After outgaining opponent are 5-5
When playing outside the conference are 7-3

Texas Tech most recently:
When playing in January are 1-1
When playing on grass are 6-4
After outgaining opponent are 8-2
When playing outside the conference are 10-0

A few trends to consider:
Mississippi is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Mississippi‘s last 6 games
Mississippi is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Texas Tech is 13-1 SU in its last 14 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Texas Tech’s last 8 games