NCAAB Odds, Pick for Mississippi State vs Ole Miss

The football rivalry between Mississippi State and Ole Miss, known as the Egg Bowl, generates plenty of hype every Thanksgiving.

This year, however, the two hardwood matchups should have fans in the Magnolia state buzzing.

The Bulldogs and the Rebels have been pleasant surprises this season, and each currently sits comfortably inside the NCAA Tournament picture.

The first of two matchups this year is set to take place in Oxford on Tuesday night, with the home Rebels opening as a short favorite.

Chris Beard and Chris Jans are good friends off the floor, but there will be no love lost once the ball is tipped in SJB Pavilion.

The Bulldogs have now taken down two top-five teams in Starkville in January.

Those wins over Tennessee and Auburn will travel to Selection Sunday and are essential in a highly contested SEC race.

However, going on the road in conference play has not been as smooth sailing.

Mississippi State is 0-3 in the league on the road and wasn't competitive in any of those contests.

Shots aren't falling at the same clip, and the Bulldog guards haven't taken care of the ball with the same efficiency.

If Miss State is going to secure its first road win in a loud Pavilion atmosphere, it must clean up the turnovers and rebound much better against a long and physical Ole Miss frontcourt.

Tolu Smith continues to be a force on the inside for Jans, so it will also be essential that the 6'11 bruiser to avoid foul trouble.

Lamont Paris is probably the frontrunner for SEC Coach of the Year, given the Gamecocks' 5-2 start-to-conference play, but it's hard to overstate just how good of a job Chris Beard has done in year one.

The Rebels resided in the basement of this league a year ago and currently sit at 17-3 overall and 4-3 in the conference.

The three losses were all to quality opponents, and ironically, two of those three defeats came on the road to teams Miss State upset (Tennessee and Auburn).

Beard-led teams always have a deep bench, and this team is no different, with eight different Rebels averaging 15-plus minutes.

That's partly because of the additions of Moussa Cisse and Brandon Murray in December after the NCAA transfer waiver ruling.

Neither is dominating the stat sheet, but it's two more quality players to add to the rotation to take some pressure off Matthew Murrell, Allen Flanigan, and company.

Ole Miss still needs to clean up its defense, which ranks towards the bottom of the conference in Ken Pom's defensive efficiency stat.

If the Rebels start to guard more consistently, this team has the pieces to make a second-weekend run.

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Sometimes, trends are largely irrelevant, but I think both teams' home/road splits are worth mentioning for this matchup.

Mississippi State hasn't won on the road in conference play, and Ole Miss hasn't lost at home all season.

Beard is building something in Oxford, and he's got the fanbase re-energized just as he did in all of his prior stops throughout his career.

Yes, these teams are similar on paper, but I'll bet on the ever-improving Rebels to cover a short home spread

Hotty Toddy!

Pick: Ole Miss -1.5 (-120)

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