Southern Mississippi vs Western Kentucky Prediction Football Picks Today 12/23/25

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles meet in the New Orleans Bowl in college football action from the Caesars Superdome on Tuesday. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Southern Mississippi vs Western Kentucky Prediction.

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Recap

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers come into this game on behalf of CUSA, sitting at 8-4 this season after finishing the year with a 37-34 loss at the hands of Jacksonville State in their season finale.

Hilltoppers Looking For Fourth Bowl Win In Last Five Years

Maverick McIvor has thrown for 1,863 yards, 12 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 67.3% passing while Rodney Tisdale Jr. has thrown for 1,367 yards, 9 touchdowns and 6 interceptions on 67.7% passing this season. Marvis Parrish has a team-high 511 rushing yards and George Hart III has 272 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns. La’Vell Wright has 460 rushing yards and 10 TDs as well this season. Matthew Henry has a team-high 762 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns while K.D. Hutchinson has 619 receiving yards and 3 TDs as well this season. Moussa Barry has 456 receiving yards and Noah Meyers has 292 receiving yards while four more Hilltoppers have 150+ receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Jaylen Wester leads the Hilltoppers with 94 total tackles including 46 solo tackles while Jaylen Lewis has a pair of interceptions this season. On defense, the Hilltoppers have combined for 16 sacks and 8 interceptions so far this season.

Why the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will win

• Southern Miss has lost 15 of its last 16 games as an underdog.
• Western Kentucky has won four of its last five games in Louisiana.
• Western Kentucky has covered the spread in each of its last five games in Louisiana.
• Southern Miss has failed to cover the spread in each of its last four games.

Southern Miss Golden Eagles Recap

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles come into this bowl game on behalf of the Sun Belt, finishing the year at 7-5 after three straight losses to end the year thanks to a 28-18 loss to Troy.

Southern Miss In First Bowl Game Since 2022

Braylon Braxton has thrown for 2,796 yards, 23 touchdowns and 7 interceptions on 65.2% passing while Jeffery Pittman has 640 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns on the ground to lead Southern Miss. Matt Jones also has 314 rushing yards with 4 TDs while Robert Briggs has 268 rushing yards as well on the year. Elijah Metcalf leads Southern Miss in receiving with 52 grabs for 677 yards, while Tychaun Chapman has 398 receiving yards with 2 TDs and Micah Davis has 393 receiving yards with a team-high 5 touchdowns. Carl Chester has 532 receiving yards with 6 touchdowns, while four more receivers for Southern Miss have 100+ receiving yards as well on the year. On defense, Chris Jones has a team-high 127 total tackles along with 3.5 sacks while Ian Foster has 3 interceptions and Michael Montgomery has a pair of INTs. Josh Moten has a team-high 5 interceptions and Ahmere Foster has 3 INTs while J’Mond Tapp has a team-high 7.5 sacks. As a unit, Southern Miss’ defense has combined for 26 sacks and 21 interceptions so far this season.

Why the Southern Miss Golden Eagles will win

• The underdog has won each of Southern Miss’ last three games.
• Southern Miss has covered the spread in four of its last five completed games as an underdog against teams from Kentucky.
• Western Kentucky has failed to cover the spread in three of its last four December games as a favorite.

Total Points Facts

• Seven of Western Kentucky’s last eight games in December have gone OVER the total points line.
• Five of Southern Miss’ last six completed games against teams from Kentucky have gone UNDER the total points line.

Southern Mississippi vs Western Kentucky Prediction

I’m on Western Kentucky here. Southern Miss’ coach, Charles Huff, has taken the Memphis job, so a lot of players could be opting out of this game with him gone. Even if players leave WKU, Tyson Helton usually lets these guys play and I feel a bit more comfortable knowing what WKU is bringing to the table for this game. I’ll roll with the Toppers here.