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Coach Gus Malzahn, quarterback Jarrett Stidham, wide receiver Darius Slayton and linebacker Deshaun Davis discuss Friday’s win over Purdue.
Josh Vitale, Montgomery Advertiser
Mississippi State could play in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl for only the second time if ESPN’s projections are accurate.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach predicts Mississippi State will play Virginia while the network’s Kyle Bonagura has the Bulldogs playing Louisville in the Dec. 30 game (3 p.m., ESPN) at Nissan Stadium.
The 22nd annual Music City Bowl will be the sixth and final year of a partnership featuring an SEC team against a team from either the ACC or Big Ten. Starting in 2020, the game will be between teams from the SEC and the Big Ten.
Mississippi State beat Wake Forest 23-17 in the 2011 Music City Bowl.
The Bulldogs (4-5) snapped a four-game losing streak last week by beating Arkansas 54-24.
Mississippi State is tied with Ole Miss for fifth in the SEC West. The Bulldogs have a bye Saturday and then play Alabama in Starkville on Nov. 16.
Louisville (5-3) beat Texas A&M 27-21 in the 2015 Music City Bowl. The Cardinals, who are third in the ACC Atlantic Division, play Miami on Saturday.
Virginia (6-3) beat Minnesota 34-31 in the 2005 Music City Bowl. The Cavaliers are in first place in the ACC Coastal Division and play Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Four other media outlets predict Kentucky is headed back to the Music City Bowl.
Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports predict Kentucky (4-4) will play Miami (5-4) in the Music City Bowl, while Yahoo Sports has the Wildcats playing Virginia Tech (5-3) and 247Sports has them playing Virginia.
Kentucky has played five times in the Music City Bowl, which is more than any other team. The Wildcats are 2-3 in the game. They lost to Northwestern 24-23 in their last trip in 2017.
Kentucky plays Tennessee on Saturday.
Bleacher Report predicts Missouri (5-3) will play Miami in the Music City Bowl. Missouri is banned by the NCAA from postseason play but has an appeal pending.
More: Music City Bowl keeps SEC, Big Ten affiliations, not ACC
More: Music City Bowl name change coming in 2019 or 2020
Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
