Texas Tech vs. Mississippi

Red Raiders -4 vs. Rebels

Click here for College Football Lines.

They wanted to be in a post-New Years Day Bowl game and they got their wish-just not in their desired location. A loss to Oklahoma derailed the dream of a BCS title game and while the Sooners will be playing for all the marbles on January 6th, the Texas Tech Red Raiders will settle for the consolation prize of the Cotton Bowl, a non-BCS game.

The game traditionally played on New Years Day will be played the day after, January 2nd in Dallas. The game will be historic no matter what happens on the field as the game that has bared the name of the field it has played at for 73 years is now departing Cotton Bowl Stadium after this game. The game will leave the aging facility for Arlington, Texas in the new stadium for the NFLs Dallas Cowboys, which will open next season. The hopes of the officials for the game are that by moving to a state-of-the-art facility that they can snag a BCS tag for the game beginning in 2011.

Despite sitting out the title game, with a victory, Texas Tech has a chance to clinch their best season in school history by winning 12 games. The Red Raiders already achieved its highest ever ranking earlier this year and is now ranked number eight. Standing in the way of the dream season is their Cotton Bowl opponent Mississippi.

A virtual home game for the Red Raiders (11-1) will give a proper send off to phenom Graham Harrell. The senior will be playing 35 miles from his hometown of Ennis, Texas and has thrown for 4747 yards, 41 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

One of the surprising teams in the later bowl games is Mississippi (8-4). To get here, the Rebels won five in a row to finish the regular season, including victories over nemesis LSU and in-state rival Mississippi State to finish the year. In those games Ole Miss outscored their opponents 76-13.

It was quite a turnaround for a program that could not record a victory in the SEC last season, but finished with a healthy 5-3 record in a tough conference. They struggled earlier in the season, but was able to pull off the road upset of Florida on September 27. The Gators made the title game by the skin of their teeth, largely because of their loss to the Rebels. Florida may have to thank Ole Miss for playing better down the stretch as it made that loss look better and better in the computer ranking.

The series is tied 2-2, including a pair of victories for Ole Miss in the 1986 and 1998 Independence Bowl.

Ole Miss will be making their first postseason appearance since Eli Manning led the team to an upset of Oklahoma State in the 2004 edition of the Cotton Bowl. The Mississippi Rebels split their other appearances in the bowl game in 1956 and 1962. Overall, Mississippi is 19-12 in bowl games.

The Raiders have lost all three appearances in this bowl game, most recently 2006. They have gone 10-20-1 in all-time bowl games, including last year’s 31-28 victory over Virginia in the Gator Bowl.

Click here for Football Betting at WagerWeb.com