Cotton Bowl Mark's Free Pick College Football Oklahoma State Cowboys-Mississippi Rebels: 1/2/10

Written by Mark | 01 January 2010

Cotton Bowl-College Football 1/2/10

Mississippi Rebels (8-4) (SEC)-Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-3) (Big 12)

By Mark • Saturday January 2nd, 2009 2 PM EST
Line-Mississippi -3

National Championship was front page talk for Mississippi in 2009, but the erratic and downright poor play of Jevan Snead didn’t make the Rebels feel warm and fuzzy. After another poor performance by Snead in an early season loss to South Carolina, the Heisman and National Championship talk was effectively ended. Still the offense finished the year with decent numbers, especially so in the ground game where they grabbed the #33 ranking with 183 yards. Dexter McCluster was the driving force of the offense with 985 rushing yards and another 475 receiving. The Rebels defense has been stingy, allowing just 319 yards and 19 points which makes them a top 25 unit in total and scoring defense. Ole Miss comes into this on a down note after a 41-27 dismantling at the hands of instate rival Mississippi State.

Oklahoma State opened the year with a tough win over Georgia and their season of promise started well. They followed with 45-35 loss to Houston which quickly brought them back to earth. The loss of Dez Bryant to an NCAA suspension took a formidable weapon out of the arsenal of the passing attack and the air game suffered. The Cowboys turned to the run with a great deal of success, averaging a healthy 192 yards good for 22^nd in the nation. What was supposed to be an electric passing attack in ’09 has turned into more of a power smash mouth attack. The Cowboys defense was a brick wall against the run allowing less than 90 yards but more akin to Swiss cheese through the air. However, they allowed a respectable 22 points which was more than enough to give their offense a manageable game.

Oklahoma State is 1-4 against the spread in their past 5 as an underdog of .5-3 points and 0-5 against the number in their last 5 as an underdog. Mississippi is 4-1-1 against the spread in their past 6 Bowl games and 0-10-2 against the number in the past 12 as a favorite of .5-3 points.

Two good defense’s and offense’s that are similar in the way they go about their business with like results. Ole Miss is the better passing team while the edge in running goes to OSU. This is what the Bowl season is all about with two teams that make it difficult to pick a winner. I guess that’s what point spreads do and when I’m torn on choosing a side I usually side with the points…