Out of all of the non-College Football Playoff bowl games, this year’s Peach Bowl matchup between Ole Miss and TCU may be the most intriguing of them all.

TCU was a team many believed should be in the CFP as the No. 4 seed, but the failure to win the Big 12 championship outright hurt the Horned Frogs in the end.

Ole Miss was a top-10 SEC team for much of the season and was thought to be a serious contender for the CFP until some losses late in the season ended the Rebels’ hopes of clinching a spot in the final four.

SDS spoke with Billy Wessels of PurpleMenace.com to get his thoughts on the upcoming Peach Bowl and which team he believes holds the upper hand in this heavyweight bout between two top-10 teams.

Drew Laing: Obviously, TCU would have loved to be in the CFP but do you think this is probably the best matchup for the Horned Frogs to prove themselves on a national stage outside of the playoff?

Billy Wessels: Yeah, I’ve got to think it is. TCU played Michigan State in a bowl game a couple years ago so they’ve been there, done that. Now they get to face a team from the vaunted SEC and was ranked in the top three at one point. It could be a defensive struggle as Gary Patterson is a defensive mastermind and Ole Miss had one of the stingiest defenses in the country this year. Giving both coaching staffs almost a month to prepare should set up a classic battle of top-10 teams.

Laing: Do you think TCU will have a tough time being motivated for this game since they were so close to getting in the CFP?

Wessels: They definitely feel snubbed, and rightfully so. It doesn’t make any sense to drop a team three spots and out of the playoff after a 52-point victory. But I don’t think they will have any trouble getting up for this one. They get to face a SEC team and can get up to 12 wins for the first time in the Big 12. Plus a win in this game could set the state for 2015 when they could start the year in the top 5. But as we know, the rankings are apparently fluid week to week and don’t really matter until the final day.

Laing: Both secondaries lead their respective conferences in interceptions, but Ole Miss’ defensive backs definitely have more notoriety. Which TCU defensive back could cause the most problems for Bo Wallace?

Wessels: Do I have to pick one? TCU has five strong members of its secondary. Sam Carter has been the heart of this team and is as steady as they come. Chris Hackett is a playmaker and leads the team in picks. Derrick Kindred is aggressive and that can hurt him at times, but he’s been working with Patterson all year on being more selective when he goes for the big play. And those are just the safeties. At corner, Kevin White is a senior that will most likely be drafted in the middle rounds. Opposite of him is redshirt freshman Ranthony Texada, who struggled early in the year, but has really turned a corner since the West Virginia game and had become a solid stopper.

Laing: Trevone Boykin vs. Bo Wallace. Is this game decided by which QB plays better?

Wessels: With these two defenses, it could easily come down to which one makes fewer mistakes. If Good Bo shows up, this could be a great quarterback duel. If Bad Bo shows up, TCU could run away with it. We haven’t seen much Bad Boykin this year. He hasn’t been as electric outside of Fort Worth, but the blow out at Texas could have given him a huge confidence boost. He finished fourth in the Heisman voting and may be the favorite going into next year if he has a good game against Ole Miss.

Laing: Your Peach Bowl prediction?

Wessels: I think TCU comes in feeling slighted and wants to put on a show for the committee and make them regret not taking them. The Frogs’ stingy defense makes Bad Bo show up and TCU wins it handily, 38-20.

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A huge thank you to Billy Wessels for participating! You can follow him on Twitter: @BillyWessels