There is just one bowl game on tap for today, and it’s far from the best one of the season. It’s still worth a  look, though:

New Orleans Bowl
Middle Tennessee State (+3.5) vs. Southern Mississippi
8:00 pm ET

As Brett Favre toils in the Sunday Night game for the Vikings, his alma mater will be fighting for their life in a bowl game. At first glance they are in tough here – they were just 7-5, while Middle Tennessee State was a more impressive 9-3. When you take a closer look, though, you see just how deceptive that is -MTSU has perhaps the most deceptive record in the country. Despite winning nine games, they didn’t beat a single squad with a record above .500. It’s hard to believe that that is possible. Southern Miss hasn’t played the toughest schedule in the country by any means, but they have certainly been tested more. They beat Central Florida and Virginia, and four of their losses involved solid performances against good opponents. Conference USA is unquestionably better than the Sun Belt, so the difference in records is not a big concern.

The bigger factor here in my mind comes down to two players – receiver DeAndre Brown and running back Damion Fletcher. They are the two best players on the field, and they both play for Southern Miss. MTSU QB Dwight Dasher is a dual threat player who matches up reasonably well here, but he doesn’t have nearly the weapons at his disposal that his opponents do, and he can’t do it alone. Southern Miss will be looking to jump out of the gate with a strong start and then not let up on the gas. To come out ahead MTSU has to limit the damage the stars can do against them and get strong play from Dasher.