Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The final games of the college football bowl season have arrived with the BBVA Compass Bowl on Jan. 5 as the 6-6 Ole Miss Rebels face the 6-6 Pittsburgh Panthers at 1 p.m. Eastern in Birmingham. This is not the greatest of games to watch or pay much attention to with two .500 teams on the slate. I’m sure if you want to one of those schools though, you are interested in watching after New Year’s.
The Rebels is very good when they do get the ball into the red zone, scoring over 90% of the time so Pittsburgh can’t allow Ole Miss to get into scoring position due to their ability to score when in close. Pittsburgh doesn’t turn the ball over much either and if Ole Miss wants to win this game, they will need to force a turnover or two and control the clock themselves. This is your basic two mediocre teams playing in a meaningless game on the first Saturday in January.
This game is going to be one of the least entertaining of all the bowl games in my opinion but could end up being one of the closest. I expect neither team to get to even 17 points but if Pittsburgh can run the ball effectively, they should be able to get the victory. I’ll take Pittsburgh 16-14 to win this game. Pittsburgh is probably tired of this game being here three straight years but hopefully they can finish this season on a high note and potentially not have to go back to this game again anytime soon.
Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports or like his Facebook page.
