WHO: No. 16 Oklahoma State (10-2) vs. No. 12 Ole Miss (9-3)
WHAT: The 81st Allstate Sugar Bowl
WHERE: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
THE SKINNY: How good are these teams? Really, how good are they?
Ole Miss is good enough to beat Alabama at Alabama, and in, their final two games, take down LSU and Mississippi State by double digits. But the Rebels are also inconsistent enough to be blown out by Florida, lose to Memphis by double digits, and drop a home game to Arkansas with the SEC West title hanging in the balance.
Oklahoma State, meanwhile, is good enough to dust a healthy and undefeated TCU by three touchdowns and start the season 10-0. But the Cowboys are inconsistent enough to lose a winner-take-all game to Oklahoma by 35 at home and by 10 to Baylor’s second- and third-string quarterbacks.
Friday’s game will come down to quarterback play and, related to that, defensive line play. Can Emmanuel Ogbah harass Chad Kelly into a Bo Wallace-Peach Bowl performance? Can an Ole Miss defensive line playing without Robert Nkemdiche get in the face of Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh.
Those questions will go a long way toward determining how good these teams really are.
Or, both teams could bring out their Mr. Hyde selves and we’ll be left wondering what the 2015 Ole Miss and Oklahoma State seasons really proved.
Either way, it should be a fun ride.
THE PREDICTION: Ole Miss 31, Oklahoma State 28
