Looking Ahead: This year’s Egg Bowl; Irish vs. Noles

Brent Beaird

April 12, 2013 at 4:07 pm.

Everett Golson and Notre Dame may take on FSU in 2014. (Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE)

Two of the more interesting television notes this week include the Ole Miss/Mississippi State rivalry returning to a prime spot and Notre Dame traveling to Florida State in 2014. Let’s dig a little deeper to see what these games mean.

The Egg Bowl is back on Thursday night and I am glad to see it. Okay, don’t get too excited, right? Personally I would much rather watch the passion in the Egg Bowl than any of the NFL games that contribute to a long nap on Thanksgiving.

ESPN will televise Mississippi at rival Mississippi State on Thanksgiving night, Thursday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will mark the 110th meeting between the SEC programs, the sixth-longest uninterrupted series between two teams. ESPN previously televised the rivalry game as its annual Thanksgiving Day prime-time college football game from 1998 to 2003. Ole Miss won last year’s meeting 41-24, breaking State’s three-year win streak.

Ole Miss holds a 61-42-6 all-time record against Mississippi State, including a 55-25-5 lead since the Battle for the Golden Egg began in 1927.

The other televised game on Thanksgiving night will be Texas vs. Texas Tech.

Both teams are involved in earlier ESPN Thursday night games. Ole Miss begins the 2013 season at Vanderbilt Aug. 29 for a Thursday night game also to be broadcast by ESPN. Kentucky travels to Mississippi State on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m.

No doubt that ESPN wanted a fierce rivalry for a holiday evening. Regardless of the records, the Egg Bowl fan bases hate each other 365 days a year. ESPN showing the game again on Thanksgiving shows how the rivalry has grown under State’s Dan Mullen and Hugh Freeze of Ole Miss. Both the teams have had recent struggles, but last season gave a glimpse of hope for the future.

Mississippi State (8-5) started the season off strong, winning seven straight games against weak competition before ending the season losing five of six.  If quarterback Tyler Russell is improved, the Bulldogs might have a more consistent season.

Ole Miss (7-6 last season) is clearly one of the darlings of the nation. They had a great recruiting class to cap off a surprising season. Freeze has the reputation of being one of the great guys of the profession.  The Rebels won seven games last year and should have beaten Texas A&M and Vanderbilt.

There have been some exciting games in this series. Do you remember the 2007 games with coach Sly Croom carrying the Mississippi State flag down the field after the Bulldogs rallied with 17 points in the fourth quarter to win by a field goal?

ESPN is hoping for a few more moments like that in November.

WHY THE IRISH AND NOLES EARLY?

Multiple sources are reporting that Notre Dame will visit Florida State in 2014.  The Irish begin partial ACC membership in football in 2014, playing five ACC teams per season. FSU is set to play Oklahoma State in Dallas to open the 2014 season. They will also host Clemson and Florida. The Seminoles will also travel to Miami and Louisville. The 2014 schedule is easily the most attractive schedule for the Noles since the early days of Bobby Bowden.

Warchant.com is reporting that a date for the Notre Dame game is likely to be in September. The Citadel – currently scheduled for Sept. 13 – might be moved to Sept. 6, the week following the season opener with Oklahoma State. Currently, Notre Dame has an opening on Sept. 20, 2014. Currently, there are no plans for FSU to make an immediate return trip to South Bend in 2015. Florida State last played Notre Dame in the 2011 Champs Sports Bowl. FSU won the game 18-14.

The significance of the series is likely two-fold. One is the ACC wanted to incorporate Notre Dame into the league as soon as possible by giving it priority games against the upper echelon teams such as Florida State. The league needs help with improved television ratings that Notre Dame provides. At that time, both teams could be in the top five of the polls largely due to tremendous recruiting.

It is also fair to read into the move that this is encouragement from the league for FSU to stay in the conference. Rumors abound that FSU officials and fans are tired of playing in the ACC. Even though they have not been able to dominate the league as expected, Noles fans are no longer interested in making the trip to Tallahassee to see the dregs of the league.

I still hear and believe that FSU would jump at the chance of moving to the SEC or the Big 12. Perhaps the addition of Louisville and Notre Dame could be incentive for the Noles to stay put for a few more years.