** This thread discusses the Content article:
Cotton Bowl Preview- Texas Tech v Ole Miss **
This is the sixth in a series of ten bowl previews.  I ranked the top 10 bowls of this season here.  Texas Tech and Ole Miss meet in the Cotton Bowl.  The Cotton Bowl is one of the oldest and most prestigious, certainly of the non-BCS level bowls.  The now-defunct Southwest Conference sent their conference champ there.  The end of that conference, and the rise of the Fiesta Bowl, mean this bowl is relegated to second-tier status, but this is an intriguing match up.  Texas Tech rose to #2 in the national rankings before getting thumped by Oklahoma, leading to head Coach Mike Leach being named as a candidate for virtually every opening.  Ole Miss is on a late season roll, under first year coach Houston Nutt, and of course has the early season victory over BCS Championship contender Florida.  Now, onward toward a prediction…
Texas Tech’s Mike Leach is a fascinating figure.  He is totally changing the way people think about offensive football, and loves pirates.  Not sure why the pirate thing is relevant, but it is, somehow, if you follow his team through a season.  QB Graham Harrell was the victim of a ‘Heisman snub’, if you listen to the papers.  My opinion?  He had fantastic stats, but was overwhelmed by two more successful players in his own conference.  Considering everyone that plays QB for Texas Tech puts up the ridiculous numbers, actually winning his division, and not getting shut down by Oklahoma, would have been much better for his case.  He’ll have to settle with knowing he was pretty much everyone’s #1 college fantasy QB.  His favorite target is redshirt sophomore WR Michael Crabtree.  Everyone is going to be asking this kid if he’s going pro, and if he says anything but ‘yes’, a lot of people are going to be punching him in the face.  I’ve hammered home the rookie cap thing elsewhere, so I’m going to argue that he should go mainly because he’s a no-brainer first rounder, and should go pro in a year where he’s pretty much guaranteed to be the first WR off the board.  The downside, though, is that means he’ll be going to the Lions.  This team is good, but virtually everyone considers them a notch below the class of the Big XII, Oklahoma and Texas, because of that beating they took in Norman.  You don’t recover a national rep easily from a late-season 40-point loss.  Their last week, they squeaked out a win against Baylor, which may tell you all you need to know about the collective psyche of this team after the disappointing loss.
Mississippi, if you believe ‘Meat Market’, was stocked with talent by former head coach Ed Orgeron.  They also have former Florida commit and Texas transfer Jevan Snead at QB, who may be excited about a ‘homecoming’ type game, back in his home state ( I assume his mother did not give birth in the stands of the Cotton Bowl, or anywhere else in Fair Park, but that would make it an interesting story, indeed).  Houston Nutt resigned at Arkansas (some say forcibly), but jumped to this talented team and there was a vast improvement.  In fairness to Coach Oregeron, no one is sure if he was given the extra year how it would have turned out.  Ole Miss is most famous this season for upsetting Florida in the Swamp.  Any ‘homefield’ advantage of Texas Tech alums living in the Dallas area (and believe me, there are many) should be less than playing a true away game of that magnitude.  The Rebels are on a roll, blowing out LSU 31-13, and absolutely crushing arch-rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, 45-0 in their last two games.  Houston Nutt, at Arkansas, was one of the pioneers of the ‘WildCat’ offensive trend, and he runs the formation at Ole Miss with Dexter McCluster.  Considering he formerly used Darren McFadden in this role at Arkansas, if you’re an African-American recruit with an Irish sounding name, you should commit to Houston Nutt.  And commit to the coach, in case he changes school again (he was rumored to be headed to Auburn at one point, but so were half of the coaches in America).  Ole Miss also features an excellent defensive line, as should be expected when one considers their former head coach is a defensive line guru.
The contrasting styles of this “light up the scoreboard” Texas Tech team with the solid, SEC battle-tested defense of Ole Miss make this a can’t miss game.  As scary as the Red Raider offense is, I think their late season collapse, coach looking to take ANY other job, and NFL thoughts will work against this team.  Ole Miss is primed to earn some more national respect, and playing in their first bowl in a while.  I know it’s a huge upset, but it’s entirely plausible for all the reasons I mentioned (especially if Mike Leach leaves, after all, between this writing and the actual game, though that’s unlikely)… I’ll take
Ole Miss, 34-28.
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