Tennessee football: 2017 Week 13 Vols and other SEC, Top 25 predictions

Ole Miss Rebels (5-6, 2-5) at No. 14 Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-3, 4-3)

Thursday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 p.m. E.T.; Davis Wade Stadium; Starkville, Miss.

TV: ESPN; Line: Mississippi State -14.5; Over/Under: 65

The Egg Bowl is back on Thanksgiving! And this year, it could actually be an exciting match-up. At the very least, it should be high-scoring.

The Mississippi State Bulldogs and Dan Mullen are looking to finish the regular season 9-3 and potentially play for a Top 10 finish at the end of the year. That would be a great send-off to next year with so much talent coming back. However, can they focus with the rumors of Tennessee football pursuing Mullen? That could be tricky.

Meanwhile, the Ole Miss Rebels are trying to get to a bowl game under interim head coach Matt Luke. Luke has done a decent job leading the program this year amidst all the turmoil following the Hugh Freeze firing. An unexpected injury to Shea Patterson causing a loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks is the only reason they aren’t already in a bowl game. With Jordan Ta’amu now behind center, they’d love to make up for that with a win in Starkville on Thanksgiving.

What will happen?

It’s a rivalry game, so anything can happen here. And the Bulldogs had a wake-up call last week struggling with Arkansas. However, the Rebels are only slightly better offensively than they were last year. Meanwhile, they’re as bad or worse defensively as they were last year.

And last year, Mississippi State put up 55 points against them with a record-setting day from Nick Fitzgerald. This year, playing at home, there’s no reason to think it won’t be the same.

The Bulldogs have been rolling ever since their bye week, and they’ll continue to do so here. Mississippi State wins easily in a high-scoring blowout.

Mississippi State: 48 Ole Miss: 28