We finally found out this past Sunday where in the heck the Blue Raiders would be playing their bowl game, and of the five possibilities the New Orleans Bowl was one of the better destinations.
I would've preferred to see them go to the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, AL due to the fact that it's the night before the national championship game and everyone will be eager to watch some football on that day.
The New Orleans Bowl is December 20th and I'm not sure how many people will be watching football on a Sunday night. They'll have to compete with the NFL that night so the Blue Raiders probably won't get as much exposure in the New Orleans Bowl. That's probably why Troy opted for the GMAC Bowl and you can't blame them. They're the champs so they deserve to choose where they want to play.
The Blue Raiders will take on Southern Miss who is very experienced in bowl games. They've gone to a bowl game 12 of the last 13 seasons. They definitely have the Blue Raiders in that category.
Southern Miss hails from Conference USA, a mediocre conference much like the Sun Belt.
Both of these offenses are ranked in the top 40 in total offense with the Blue Raiders having a one yard advantage in average offensive yards a game. Pretty bizarre.
This game will come down to who's defense shows up and slows the opposing offense down enough to pull out a win. I like the Blue Raiders and their defense who leads the nation in tackles for loss with over eight a game. Not to mention they're fourth in sacks averaging over three a game in that department.
In reality the Blue Raiders have already prepared themselves for this game by playing against some good offenses in the regular season. The most notable one being Clemson which they lost to by 17 to start the season.
I'm just not that impressed with Southern Miss's defense that got smoked in their five losses. They gave up 30 to UAB, 34 to Tulsa, and 34 to Virginia, 35 to Kansas, and 25 to East Carolina.
It will be a very close game and both offenses will score a lot of points. In the end I think MT's defense will step up and make a few key stops to bring home the bowl win.
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