Tag: ReliaQuest Bowl

BOWL SELECTION: LSU to face Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl

The Tigers will once again face a Big Ten team in a New Year’s bowl game.

LSU learned its bowl fate on Sunday, and coach Brian Kelly’s team will be returning to the Sunshine State this January for a New Year’s Day bowl game.

The Tigers drew Wisconsin and coach Luke Fickell in the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The preseason favorite to win the Big Ten West, it was a bit of a disappointing Year 1 under Fickell as the Badgers finished just 7-5 and in third place in the division.

This would typically be a contrast of styles matchup, given Wisconsin’s program identity, but the team attempted to move to a more air raid style attack under new offensive coordinator Phil Longo, with mixed results.

Many suspected that LSU could draw Kelly’s former team in Notre Dame, but Georgia’s SEC championship game loss to Alabama put another SEC team in a New Year’s Six game and took away the possibility for the Fighting Irish to get into the ReliaQuest Bowl.

The Tigers will take on Wisconsin at 11 a.m. in Tampa on New Year’s Day.

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Notre Dame-LSU bowl game dreams over?

No Freeman vs. Kelly after all?

Notre Dame and LSU both saw their seasons come to an end a week ago as many projected the two to meet in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa.  However, despite the two not playing this weekend, outcomes elsewhere may have put an end to the dream of a Marcus Freeman vs. Brian Kelly showdown in a bowl game.

According to Brett McMurphy of Action Network, it would appear Notre Dame going to the ReliaQuest Bowl at all is done.  Here is what the longtime college football reporter had to say Saturday night:

If not the ReliaQuest Bowl then the most likely option for Notre Dame would appear to be the Pop Tarts Bowl in Orlando.  There they would face a Big 12 opponent.

Stay tuned for an eventful morning and afternoon.

CBS Sports predicts Texas A&M’s bowl matchup vs Big Ten foe on New Year’s Day

CBS Sports unveiled their preseason bowl projections for 2023, and Texas A&M is projected to face a Big Ten opponent on New Year’s Day.

It’s nearly time to block off your Saturday afternoons as the 2023 college football season draws near. Fall camp is underway, the pads are on, and last but not least we have another round of preseason predictions to dissect.

The latest is CBS Sports’ preseason bowl projections for 2023, courtesy of Jerry Palm. From the Bahamas Bowl all the way through the College Football Playoff Semifinals, Palm does his best impression of clairvoyance in predicting the matchups we’ll most likely see in December and January.

As it pertains to Texas A&M, which enters a pivotal 2023 campaign, Palm foresees the Maroon and White facing the Iowa Hawkeyes in the ReliaQuest Bowl on New Year’s Day 2024. The bowl game will take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and last year’s matchup saw Mississippi State fend off Illinois to the tune of a 19-10 final score.

The ReliaQuest Bowl, which was rebranded in 2022 after previously being known as the Outback Bowl, historically features teams from the ACC, the Big Ten, or the SEC. The Aggies have faced the Hawkeyes just once in program history, which resulted in a 29-0 blowout victory way back on Oct. 10, 1931.

Using last year’s matchup as a proxy, both Mississippi State and Illinois finished with respective 8-4 records to punch their ticket to the ReliaQuest Bowl. What are the chances that the Aggies could match that 8-4 mark, or possibly even surpass it in 2023?

The SEC is of course a gauntlet when compared to the other power conferences, but when looking ahead to Texas A&M’s schedule there are a few notable opponents that stick out in Alabama, LSU, and Tennessee. Of course, Arkansas and Ole Miss on the road won’t be a walk in the park either.

But with the Aggies having the Razorbacks’ number over the last few years, coupled with the fact that this team upset LSU in 2022 and will play host to the Crimson Tide this season, it’s not a stretch to say that one of those daunting matchups could fall in Texas A&M’s favor. So while the Maroon and White should be encouraged in CBS Sports’ faith in the program going bowling this year, this roster by all means should not be satisfied with a ReliaQuest Bowl appearance.

A New Year’s Six or College Football Playoff appearance should always be the target goal for a program of this caliber, no matter whether the outsiders believe it to be a long shot.

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Action Network predicts Texas A&M will face a notable opponent for their 2024 bowl game

As Texas A&M looks to return to the postseason, Action Network forecasts predicts the Aggies will face a storied program for their bowl game matchup.

It’s been a good minute since the Aggies last punched their ticket to a bowl game, but more than a few outlets are predicting a Maroon and White return to the postseason.

Action Network has Texas A&M facing Notre Dame in their most recent College Football Playoff/bowl game projections. The ReliaQuest Bowl is forecasted as the backdrop to this clash, which takes place from Tampa, FL, on Jan. 1, 2024.

The Aggies and Fighting Irish have clashed five times between 1988 and 2001, with the Maroon and White holding a 2-3 record. Their last matchup, back on Sept. 29, 2001, was a 24-3 win in favor of A&M. The victory also snapped a three-game losing streak to Notre Dame, with the latter recording wins in 1992, 1993, and 2000.

The hypothetical bowl matchup between these two storied programs would serve as a prelude to their planned home-and-home series in 2024 and 2025. The head-to-head begins with a home game at Kyle Field on Aug. 31, 2024, and concludes with an away game in South Bend on Sept. 13, 2025.

In addition to this clash featuring two notable names among the college football landscape, it would be a telling match-up given that both teams have their sights set on a rebound campaign this fall.

The Fighting Irish, who notably replaced Brian Kelly with first-year head coach Marcus Freeman, saw a bumpy 2022 campaign ending with a 9-4 record. However, after recording notable victories against BYU, Syracuse, Clemson, and South Carolina, Notre Dame landed Wake Forest quarterback transfer Sam Hartman in the offseason.

The Aggies are no stranger to a hopeful comeback story as head coach Jimbo Fisher noted that his team is “hungry” and “mad” following an underwhelming 5-7 season. The Maroon and White welcome back a talented offense that should take a leap this season with new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino holding the play-calling duties.

A&M also boasts a talented defensive front that should be a monster in the SEC this year after ranking 25th in the country last season in defensive scoring (21.2 PPG allowed).

While the Aggies likely have a College Football Playoff appearance as their Northstar for this season, it’s encouraging to see more and more outlets forecast Texas A&M to return to the bowl season. The Maroon and White have appeared in 42 bowl games over their school history, holding a 20-22 record. Their last appearance came back in 2021 in the Orange Bowl, which resulted in a 41-27 win over North Carolina.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Pete on Twitter: @PeteThreee.

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Big Ten bowl results tracker: Penn State clinches winning bowl record for Big Ten

Penn State’s Rose Bowl victory gave the Big Ten a winning record this bowl season

The Big Ten is sending two teams to the College Football Playoff for the first time in conference history, but the storylines this bowl season extend beyond Michigan and Ohio State continuing to play for a national championship. Wisconsin’s new head coach, Luke Fickell, already stepped in and led the Badgers to a postseason win and Minnesota took care of Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl to get the Big Ten off to a good 2-0 start with both wins coming against power conference opponents.

We are keeping tabs on every Big Ten bowl result to see just how the conference stacks up this postseason. This list of Big Ten bowl games will be updated throughout the bowl season once games go final.

Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10 ReliaQuest Bowl What Happened, What It All Means

Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10: ReliaQuest Bowl what happened, player of the game, and what it all means

Mississippi State beat Illinois to win the ReliaQuest Bowl. What happened, who was the player of the game, and what does it all mean?

Mississippi State 19, Illinois 10 ReliaQuest Bowl What Happened, Player of the Game, What It All Means

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ReliaQuest Bowl What Happened

– Massimo Biscardi hit a 27-yard field goal with four seconds to play to give Mississippi State the 13-10 lead, and Marcus Banks added on to the final score with a scoop and score for a 60-yard touchdown after a desperation final bunch of laterals by the Illini to close out a hard-fought, tough game.

– Illinois got up 10-7 at going into halftime helped by a two-yard Tommy DeVito touchdown run and a 52-yard bomb of a field goal from Caleb Griffin, but that was it for the scoring.

– Mississippi State got a – let’s just say, very, very questionable – touchdown from Justin Robinson on fourth and goal from the eight to help tie it up. His foot appeared to be out, but it was called a touchdown and wasn’t reversed. That started a fourth quarter run of 16 unanswered points.

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ReliaQuest Bowl Player of the Game

Jett Johnson, LB Mississippi State 
He made a game-high 12 tackles with a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss.

CFN Experts Picks Dec 20-27 | CFP NY6, Dec 28-Jan 2

ReliaQuest Bowl Fun Stats

– Illinois was without star RB Chase Brown. It ran 29 times for 35 yards and a score – the O line allowed seven sacks and ten tackles for loss.

– Will Rogers completed 29-of-44 passes for 261 yards and a score with two picks for Mississippi State. Illinois QB Tommy DeVito completed 23-of-34 passes for 253 yards and ran for a score.

– Mississippi State outgained Illinois 390 yards to 288

ReliaQuest Bowl What It All Means

This was the first game for Mississippi State since the death of head coach Mike Leach, and it won with defense and not a high-octane offense. The Illinois defense had a lot to do with that, but the running game cranked out over five yards per carry and QB Will Rogers came up with an okay game to go along with two picks.

This closes out the season with three straight wins – including a victory over Ole Miss – and was the first win for new head coach Zach Arnett. Under Leach and former head man Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State was 1-3 in its previous four bowls before this.

Illinois was missing a few key guys in the secondary along with RB Chase Brown, and it came within a bad call for a Bulldog touchdown from possibly pulling this off. However, this showed the need for more of a downfield passing game – WR Isaiah Williams did what he could with a slew of yards after the catch, finishing with 114 yards – but there wasn’t any running game and the O line couldn’t keep Tommy DeVito from getting hit.

Even with the loss, this was a terrific second season under head coach Bret Bielema, coming up with the program’s first winning season since 2011, establishing a tough defensive style and attitude going forward.

The Illini haven’t won a bowl game since 2011 going 0-3 since.

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Mississippi State miraculously covered the spread against Illinois on a Raiders-esque lateral return to end the game

On a day the Bulldogs paid tribute to Mike Leach, their bettors were gifted a backdoor cover.

On a day the Mississippi State Bulldogs paid tribute to their late head coach Mike Leach with a special pirate helmet logo and bowl-opening delay of game, their bettors got a bit of supernatural help to cover a 3.5-point spread.

The favored Bulldogs trailed Illinois for almost the entirety of the ReliaQuest Bowl on Monday, finally taking a lead on a go-ahead field goal with four seconds left to seemingly clinch a three-point victory.

However, while they were on track to win, the field meant a cover was done. And that was bad news for the 64% of bettors who picked Mississippi State, according to Action Network. All that was left was for Illinois was to receive a kickoff and let the time expire after one play, at most.

That one play turned into a miracle cover for the Bulldogs.

Remember the New England Patriots’ embarrassing lateral failure against the Las Vegas Raiders a few weeks ago? Yeah, Illinois did the same thing.

After a few backward throws, the Bulldogs’ Marcus Banks scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 60 yards for the touchdown and a nine-point win.

Check on your friends who bet Illinois.

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Mississippi State delivers gut-punch bad beat to Illinois backers

Talk about starting the New Year with a bad, bad beat. That would be Illinois backers

It is only  January 2 and there already is a brutal bad beat for the backers of Illinois.

The Fighting Illini saw Mississippi State go ahead 13-10 on a short field goal with seconds left in the Reliaquest Bowl.

So, if you were getting anywhere from 3-4 points — depending on where you engage in such activities — you were confident in Illinois.

Until …

The Illini attempted to win the game by taking a page from Stanford-Cal, decades ago.

And here we go:

The last lateral winds up with Marcus Banks, who returns it 60 yards for a touchdown and a 13-10 game turns into a 19-10 victory for the Bulldogs or a loss on many levels for fans of Illinois.

1st & 10 at ILL 29

(0:00 – 4th) Tommy DeVito pass complete to Casey Washington for 16 yds, lateral to Isaiah Williams for no gain, lateral to Tip Reiman for 1 yd, lateral to Casey Washington for 1 yd lateral to Tommy DeVito for 13 yds, Tommy DeVito fumbled, recovered by MisSt Marcus Banks, return for 60 yds for a TD.

Illinois vs Mississippi State ReliaQuest Bowl Prediction Game Preview

Illinois vs Mississippi State game preview, prediction, and breakdown for the ReliaQuest Bowl on Monday, January 2, 2023

Illinois vs Mississippi State prediction, game preview, odds, how to watch. ReliaQuest Bowl, Monday, January 2, 2023

Illinois vs Mississippi State ReliaQuest Bowl Prediction Game Preview

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Illinois vs Mississippi State How To Watch

Date: Monday, January 2, 2023
Game Time: 12:00 ET
Venue: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
How To Watch: ESPN2
Record: Illinois (8-4), Mississippi State (8-4)
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Illinois vs Mississippi State ReliaQuest Bowl 5 Things To Know

ReliaQuest Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

– It’s the first game of 2023, and it’s the first game for Mississippi State without the late head coach Mike Leach. Overall this was a solid season under Leach with wins in three of the last four games – including a win over arch-rival Ole Miss – on the way to a good 2023 bowl game, but of course the season and this game will be remembered for Leach.

Nothing is going to immediately change under new head coach Zach Arnett. The Bulldogs are still going to throw the ball a bajillion times, the defense is going to be solid, and the team should be able to handle the Illinois style.

– Illinois was one of the 2022 season’s best surprises. Under head coach Bret Bielema, the offense was tough up front, the defense was among the best in the country, and it all worked well enough to destroy Wisconsin – and end the Paul Chryst era – beat Iowa, and push Michigan to the brink. It was a rough finishing kick with losses to Michigan State and Purdue keeping it out of Big Ten Championship, but this season was just the beginning of a strong new era of Illinois football.

Here’s the problem. It’s missing some of its key stars. Chase Brown was as good as any running back in the country, Luke Ford was a terrific tight end, and the opt-out losses in the secondary against this passing team is devastating.

– This is the first bowl game for Illinois since losing the 2019 Redbox to Cal. The last bowl win was against UCLA in the 2011 Kraft Fight Hunger, and the program is a rough 2-4 in bowls since 1999’s blowout win over Virginia in the Micron PC. Bielema has been decent in bowls – he went 2-1 at Arkansas – but he was just 2-4 at Wisconsin with two straight Rose Bowl losses before leaving for the Hog gig.

– Mississippi State was terrific in bowls games for a long stretch – going 9-2 in 11 bowls from the 1999 Peach up to the end of the Dan Mullen era with a win over Louisville in the 2017 TaxSlayer. Under Joe Moorhead and Mike Leach, the Bulldogs went 1-3, getting rocked by Texas Tech 34-7 last year in the Liberty.

– It’s the inaugural ReliaQuest Bowl, but you probably know it better as the old Outback Bowl. It’s been SEC vs Big Ten after Wisconsin beat Duke in 1995 with the SEC going 16-10 and winning the last two. Last year’s 24-10 Arkansas win over Penn State was better than the final score, and the previous five were all decided by one score.

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Why Illinois Will Win The ReliaQuest Bowl

The defense really is that good.

It might be missing a few very, very important defensive backs – more on that in a moment – but the style and the D should still work. The Illini finished second in the nation in total defense behind Air Force, it was first in scoring defense allowing just 12.2 points per game, and most importantly in this, it’s No. 1 in the nation in passing efficiency defense.

The defense allowed fewer than 2,000 yards this season and just eight touchdowns, and it picked off 22 passes. No, the team didn’t face a slew of high-powered passing teams, but the losses mostly came against teams that could throw.

There’s one massive difference between what Indiana, Michigan State, and Purdue did in their three wins and what Mississippi State does – downfield passes.

The Bulldogs will throw it 50 times, but there’s no rushing yards, and there’s nothing happening when it comes to the deep shots. The passing game averages under ten yards per completion – the third-lowest in college football – meaning the Illini will allow short passes, and then have to make the tackle. They can do that.

However …

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Why Mississippi State Will Win The ReliaQuest Bowl

CB Devon Witherspoon and S Sydney Brown. Those are two NFL starting defensive backs Illinois won’t have around, and it’s going to matter.

The Illini defense will hold its own. Mississippi State will have a hard time moving the chains, it’ll have to deal with a ton of third down moments, and Illinois is as good as anyone in the country at coming up with third down stops. But the new parts in the Illinois secondary will hurt just enough to allow Will Rogers and company to keep things moving.

Yes, Illinois, Michigan State, and Purdue were able to stretch the field a bit, but none of them were Tennessee when it came to winging it around. Illinois lost four games this year, going 0-3 when giving up 208 yards or more, and the fourth loss came to Michigan State, who completed 66% of its passes – the best completion day by anyone against Illinois.

Mississippi State was below 208 passing yards just once – it threw for 203 against Kentucky – and was only below 60% three times. It’s 8-1 when it hits 60% or more of its throws.

There’s that, and …

ReliaQuest Bowl Prediction, What’s Going To Happen, History

NEXT: What’s Going To Happen, Illinois vs Mississippi State Prediction, ReliaQuest Bowl History

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2022 Big Ten bowl game tracker: All Big Ten bowl announcements

Here are this year’s Big Ten bowl games, including a pair of College Football Playoff teams.

For the first time in College Football Playoff history, the Big Ten will have two teams competing in the four-team playoff this season. Big Ten champion Michigan will be making its second straight appearance and Ohio State will return to the playoff for the fifth time. The Big Ten would love nothing more than to see the bitter rivals duke it out for all of the marbles in the national championship game, but history has already been made for the conference by having two playoff teams this year.

The Big Ten will have its traditional spot in the Rose Bowl occupied by Penn State, which finished in third place in the East Division but ended the season ranked in the top 10 of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s final rankings. It is the fourth Rose Bowl trip for the Nittany Lions since joining the Big Ten and the fifth trip overall. Unfortunately, Penn State doesn’t have a great Rose Bowl record to speak of, but this is a new opportunity against Pac-12 champion Utah.

The Big Ten is leaving one bowl spot vacant in its lineup this season with the three teams playing in the New Years Six and not having an additional bowl-eligible team to fill the remaining spot. Here is the entire Big Ten bowl lineup for this year’s bowl season.