Cotton Bowl Preview Texas Tech vs Mississippi

Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Mississippi Rebels 2:00 PM ET

One of the best non-BCS sports betting match-ups of the bowl season is usually the Cotton Bowl, and this year’s edition certainly won’t disappoint when the Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-1 SU, 5-4-1 ATS) square off against the Mississippi Rebels (8-4 SU, 8-3 ATS). Texas Tech brings in one of the most explosive passing attacks in the country under the guidance of mastermind HC Mike Leach. Mississippi comes into this game off their best seasons in years under new HC Houston Nutt after struggling under former HC Ed Orgeron.

Statisticians for Texas Tech are amongst the busiest in the country with the mind-boggling numbers the offense has put up. Texas Tech bettors have watched QB Graham Harrell have an amazing senior season en route to finishing in 4th place in the Heisman Trophy voting. Harrell completed 71.5% of his passes for 4747 yards and 41 touchdowns with seven interceptions; some of the best numbers in the nation. His main target, Biletnikoff Trophy winner WR Michael Crabtree, also put together an amazing sophomore campaign. NCAA gamblers saw Crabtree catch 93 passes for 1135 yards and 18 touchdowns on the year, making him the most productive WR over the last two seasons and a surefire 1st round NFL Draft prospect.

Not surprisingly, Texas Tech’s offense was a consistent moneymaker for over bettors. In the Red Raiders’ last eight games of the season, seven went over the ‘total’ set by the NCAA betting odds.

Houston Nutt and the Mississippi Rebels may not have the flashy offense that Texas Tech has, but QB Jevan Snead has been nonetheless sensational for Ole Miss bettors. On the year, Snead has completed 55.7% of his passes for 2470 yards and 23 touchdowns with just 12 interceptions. Helping Snead out has been the speedy Dexter McCluster, who combined for 1100 rushing and receiving yards with six touchdowns during the regular season.

Ole Miss’ best win of the year came in the Swamp, when as 22.5 point underdogs per the college football lines the Rebels stunned the Gators and came away with the 31-30 NCAA wagering victory. Since the Rebels loss to the mighty Crimson Tide, they have won five straight and have covered four consecutive games for college football bettors. Also, starting with their loss to Alabama, five of the last six Ole Miss games have gone over the ‘total’ per the closing NCAA lines.

One key betting trend to look at in this game is that Ole Miss is 29-13 ATS in its last 42 non-home games against teams with winning records. This signifies that the Rebels are traditionally a team that plays up to their level of competition.

Texas Tech is a four-point favorite in this game by the NCAA gambling odds and the game has a set ‘total’ of 69 points.

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