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ESPN sees Wednesday night’s SEC showdown between Alabama and Mississippi State as a game that could come down to the bitter end between 2 ranked teams.
The 4th-ranked Crimson Tide are 17-3 overall and 6-1 in the SEC, and the 14th-ranked Bulldogs are 16-4 and 4-3 in the conference as they get set for one of the biggest home games of the season. The teams will tip things off at 9 p.m. ET on SEC Network, and though Mississippi State is a slight favorite because the game is in Starkville, the Crimson Tide have the advantage when it comes to ESPN’s matchup predictor.
ESPN gives Alabama a 53.8% chance to escape with a road victory and win its fourth game in a row after suffering its only SEC loss of the season at home against Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide hope to have better luck against the other Mississippi school while coming off a victory last Saturday that was controversial because of who didn’t play.
Senior guard Mark Sears was benched for the second half as Alabama struggled to beat LSU at home, with head coach Nate Oats claiming that he played the guys who gave the Crimson Tide the best chance to win. Oats and Sears cleared the air after practice on Tuesday, and so the drama surrounding last weekend should be swept away by the time Alabama tips off in Starkville on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Mississippi State escaped with an overtime victory at South Carolina over the weekend. The Bulldogs had lost 3 of their past 4 games before the victory on Saturday, so they’ll be trying to get back on the right foot in front of what’s sure to be a rocking crowd in Starkville.
If ESPN is right, that crowd will be treated to a dramatic finish.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
