Jackson Free Press

Mississippi State and Ole Miss get together for their annual hatefest on Thursday night. Beware, this Egg Bowl might give you indigestion.

Before we go any further, Dr. S would like to point out that he went 4-1 last week and correctly predicted that LSU would defeat Ole Miss by 1 point. As the theme from "The Twilight Zone" plays in the background, let's move on to the main course ...

For Dr. S, the Egg Bowl lost a lot of its electricity when it went back to the campuses. There was something about seeing 60,000 people gather in Jackson and behave in the worst way possible that gave Dr. S a major thrill. However, it's perfectly understandable given the economics involved (and the way they were getting allegedly getting ripped off by Jim Buck Ross). But Jackson will always seem like the most fitting place for alumni and fans of the state's top two universities to behave like jackasses.

Oh well, the schools still hate each other as much as ever (one pundit says the Israelis and Palestinians will make peace before the Dogs and Rebels learn to co-exist). A bloated nation will be watching via ESPN when the teams hook up for the 99th time on Thursday night in the village of Oxford.

You will see an Egg Bowl tainted by unfulfilled expectations. State flat out stinks and the Ole Miss faithful expected this game to be a coronation (for both Eli Manning and their SEC championship game ambitions). Instead, Ole Miss has to win in order to slide through the backdoor into some crappy bowl. Jackie Sherrill may have assembled one of the worst teams in SEC history this year, but he also is 7-4 against the Rebels. Look for the Prince of Darkness to work his magic again. Jackie may occasionally be dumb, but Rebel coach David "Gomer Jr." Cutcliffe is always Dumber. ... Jackal's Clanging Cowbells of Progress 35, Confederates 24.

Speaking of leftovers, Southern Miss plays host to East Carolina this Saturday needing a win to guarantee a trip to a crappy bowl of its own. The Gilded Buzzards might have won more games than the Big 2, but they have been just as disappointing. Of course, it's tough enough to win when you have a decent quarterback (right, Eli?) but it's nearly impossible when you have a void behind center like USM. The University of Synthetic Materials ruined Dr. S' bid for prognosticating perfection last week by being humiliated by toothless Tulane. (That's the last time Bower lets his team take a pregame walk through the French Quarter.) But East Carolina used up all of its luck upsetting TCU last week. ... Just Happy To Still Be in Division I 31, East of What, Exactly? 21