Mississippi State Football to Face Illinois in ReliaQuest Bowl

It is official: Mississippi State will probably be taking its skills to Tampa this offseason. 

MSU will face Illinois within the ReliaQuest Bowl, in keeping with Brett McMurphy of Motion Community. That is the second time that the SEC and Large Ten packages have met and the primary time since 1980. 

The Bulldogs are going bowling for the thirteenth consecutive season after ending the common season with an 8-4 file, together with 4-4 in convention motion. Head coach Mike Leach is in his third postseason at MSU and has a 1-1 file in bowl video games with this system. The Bulldogs defeated Tulsa within the Armed Forces Bowl in 2020 and fell to Texas Tech within the 2021 Liberty Bowl. 

The Preventing Illini completed 8-4 on the 12 months with a 5-4 convention file that landed them in second place within the Large 10 West. That is the primary time that Illinois has performed within the postseason since 2019 when this system fell to California within the Redbox Bowl. 

Each Mississippi State and Illinois will spend the subsequent few weeks getting ready for the matchup. Regardless of how the ultimate sport ends, the Bulldogs will benefit from spending a couple of further weeks training and bettering as a workforce, which may help them heading into the 2023 season. 

Kickoff for the sport is ready for 11 a.m. CT on Jan. 2nd at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.