Nothing says Thanksgiving Thursday quite like a rivalry game forged in sweat, tears, and cold-blooded, deep-seated, hatred. Welcome, everybody, to the 2023 edition of the Egg Bowl.
Ahead of the annual battle and brawl between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Ole Miss Rebels, we’ve got the latest college football betting odds, DFS picks, and a Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss prediction.
Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss Betting and DFS Preview
All odds are from DraftKings Sportsbook and correct as of Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. Want to take advantage of the Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss odds? Visit the College Football Network live college football odds page to place bets in your state.
- Spread
Ole Miss -10.5 - Moneyline
Ole Miss -440, Mississippi State +340 - Over/Under
55.5 points - Game time
7:30 p.m. ET - Location
Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, MS - Predicted Weather at Kick
42 degrees, 6 mph winds, mostly clear - How to Watch
ESPN, FuboTV
Can you make some readies on the Rebels or are the Bulldogs the team to bolster your bank balance? If you’re going to take advantage of the Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss odds, consider some of the following factors before you part with your hard-earned cash.
You can usually throw the book out the window on rivalry week, especially when the team on the wrong side of .500 has home-field advantage. However, Ole Miss and Mississippi State have had vastly different seasons and the Bulldogs enter the game having dismissed head coach Zach Arnett after going 1-6 in SEC play this season.
As a result, Ole Miss enters the game as a favorite to extend their 64-47-6 head-to-head advantage. Emotion may be a factor, given that it’s one year since legendary head coach Mike Leach led the Bulldogs to victory in what would be the final game of his career ahead of his untimely death. Sadly, neither the emotion of his memory nor the pure hatred of the rivalry may be enough.
MORE: CFB TV Schedule Week 13
An offensive juggernaut against a defense that hasn’t lived up to expectations could lead to Ole Miss covering the spread. Mississippi State has covered just three times this year, and never as a double-digit underdog. Meanwhile, Lane Kiffin’s Rebels are 5-3 covering as a favorite.
Tread cautiously betting the totals line — the game hasn’t tallied over 55 points since 2017.
Top DFS Picks and Fantasy Plays
Mississippi State Depth Chart | Ole Miss Depth Chart
- QB Will Rogers, Mississippi State
- QB Jaxson Dart, Ole Miss
- RB Jo’Quavious Marks, Mississippi State
- RB Jeffery Pittman, Mississippi State
- RB Seth Davis, Mississippi State
- RB Quinshon Judkins, Ole Miss
- RB Ulysses Bentley IV, Ole Miss
- RB Jam Griffin, Ole Miss
- WR Justin Robinson, Mississippi State
- WR Freddie Roberson, Mississippi State
- WR Zavion Thomas, Mississippi State
- WR Lideatrick Griffin, Mississippi State
- WR Tre Harris, Ole Miss
- WR Zakhari Franklin, Ole Miss
- WR Dayton Wade, Ole Miss
- WR Jordan Watkins, Ole Miss
- TE Ryland Goede, Mississippi State
- TE Caden Prieskorn, Ole Miss
There’s just one college football game on Thursday to compile your DFS team from in Week 13. If you’re new to DFS, Fanduel’s one-game contests allow you to select four Flex positions in one-game slates from the quarterback, running backs, wide receivers, and tight end positions. One-game slates give you an MVP that scores 1.5x the points of a normal player.
Starting your Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss picks at the quarterback position, it’s difficult to look past Rebels standout Jaxson Dart. The Ole Miss quarterback has the third-most fantasy points amongst SEC West players this season, and his matchup against a Bulldogs defense that has allowed the fourth-most passing TDs in the conference is extremely favorable.
Quinshon Judkins is an obvious running back choice, leading the SEC West with 196.3 fantasy points. But between value and matchup, you might want to investigate other options. Jo’Quavious Marks offers receiving upside in addition to his rushing ability, and Jeffery Pittman is coming off a sterling performance where he averaged 9.8 YPC against Southern Miss.
Lideatrick Griffin should be labeled as an offensive weapon, making him an intriguing fantasy asset who can impact the game in multiple ways. Meanwhile, Ole Miss receiver Tre Harris is the top fantasy-scoring pass catcher in the SEC West that doesn’t belong to LSU. Don’t, however, sleep on Dayton Wade who is coming off a 100-yard outing against Louisiana-Monroe.
Prediction for Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss
Okay, so we’ve furnished you with the Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss odds and some DFS picks. Now, it’s time to close this thing out with our prediction. Will emotion fuel Mississippi State to a win over their bitter rival, sealing bowl eligibility in the process? Or will Ole Miss bolster their bid for a New Year’s Six appearance with a 10th win of the 2023 college football season?
Mississippi State comes into the Egg Bowl with the worst record of the two teams, lagging in almost every conceivable statistic you can think of, and with plenty of questions to be answered about the direction of the program. As interim head coach Greg Knox knows, however, everything that comes before is irrelevant when the two teams take to the field in the rivalry.
“One thing about this game, you can take the records and you can throw them out,” Knox told reporters during his game week media availability. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve won one game or if you’ve won 10. When that foot hits the ball, you have to line up and you have to play.”
In many respects, Knox is correct. Strange things can happen when hatred heads to the football field, especially for a team still riding that interim head coach honeymoon period. However, there are plenty of reasons to believe that this game will remain true to the 2023 season’s form. By that, we mean Ole Miss has all the tools at their disposal to win this game comfortably.
Although the Rebels defense has allowed 23.7 points per game, they’ve snagged the most interceptions in the SEC, while keeping opposition RBs under four yards per carry. Ole Miss has several pass rushers who have logged multiple sacks this season, with the defense being one of the most potent SEC units in creating sacks. That could spell bad news for Bulldog QB Will Rogers.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss quarterback Dart and a plethora of pass-catching weapons should have the advantage against a Mississippi State defense that has given up 20 passing touchdowns this season. Expect Kiffin’s team to be able to quickly put points on the board, with the Bulldogs struggling to keep up. Ole Miss wins the 120th edition of the Egg Bowl in style.
Prediction: Mississippi State 21, Ole Miss 34