Mississippi State vs Illinois Betting Props: ReliaQuest Bowl

The Mississippi State Bulldogs travel to Tampa to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini at Raymond James Stadium on Monday.

The obvious huge story attached to this game is the fact that Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach, who guided the team through the full regular season, abruptly died after the end of the season.

Mississippi State defensive coordinator Zach Arnett will be the head coach of the Bulldogs for the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa against Illinois. Arnett has also been named head coach on a permanent basis.

That is unavoidably the game-based detail we have to talk about if you bet online because it will impact the props in the sportsbook.

Let’s check the latest college football odds, stats, injury reports and college football lines for Mississippi State vs Illinois. We’ve plenty of NCAA football odds for you to consider.

ReliaQuest Bowl Odds: Mississippi State vs Illinois Props

• Mississippi State Total Points, O/U 36½
• Illinois Total Points, O/U 33½
• Race to 10 points

Mississippi State Total Points, O/U 36½

The Mississippi State offense had its moments in 2022, but it didn’t regularly score north of 35 points in SEC games.

In fact, MSU scored more than 35 points in only three of its eight SEC games: 42 against Texas A&M, 40 against Arkansas, and 39 against Auburn, and the Auburn game was an overtime game. MSU scored 33 points in regulation time in that particular game.

The other point to make here is that Illinois has a really good defense. That side of the ball was the strength of the Illini roster in 2022. Illinois beat Iowa 9-6 and similarly shut down Minnesota, allowing just 14 points to the Golden Gophers.

Illinois allowed nine points to Nebraska, 10 to Wisconsin, and only 19 to Michigan, conceding just one touchdown to the Wolverines on the road in Ann Arbor.

This is a stout, disciplined defense that should be able to hold Mississippi State to a modest point total.

If you’re making your college football picks, you should know that Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters has moved to Purdue as the head coach of the Boilermakers. Maybe that will cause the Illinois defense to crater, but don’t expect that to happen.

• Picks: Under 36½ (-115) 

Illinois Total Points, O/U 33½

This is a clear and easy pick versus the college football odds. Arnett has done a good job with the Bulldogs’ defense.

He contained Ole Miss and Lane Kiffin. He contained Arkansas and Texas A&M. He regularly put Mississippi State in position to win SEC games.

His defensive unit got better at the end of the season. Now you add the fact that every Mississippi State coach and player will be motivated to win this game for Leach.

You should see a lot of energy and passion from the Mississippi State defense against an Illinois offense which rarely scored 30 or more points in Big Ten games in 2022. Illinois scored at least 30 points in only two of its nine Big Ten Conference games this past season.

The Illini will definitely score fewer than 34 points.

• Picks: Under 33½ (-110)

Race to 10 points

For this prop, we’re looking at which team will get to the 10-point mark first.

Illinois could hold Mississippi State’s offense in check, so this is not a very easy prop to tackle, but if you did have to lean in one direction, it would very clearly be Mississippi State.

It feels like Mississippi State will have a little more fire in their belly in this one. And with the Fighting Illini’s defensive coordinator moving on, there could be weakness on that side of the ball early on.

• Picks: Mississippi State Race to 10 Points (-115)