CFB expert predicts Mississippi State football bowl matchup with Baylor after week 8

As Zach Arnett and the Mississippi State football team took care of business against Arkansas, the Bulldogs took a huge step towards making it back to a bowl game.

Saturday afternoon, the Mississippi State Bulldogs got past the midpoint of the 2023 Mississippi State football season and with a win over the Arkansas Razorbacks, Zach Arentt’s first MSU team got back above .500.

Mississippi State is now 4-3 overall and 1-3 in SEC play. That win over Arkansas was huge for Arnett’s bunch to get the Bulldogs one step closer to a bowl game.

And now, Mississippi State will have opportunities over their final five games to get back to bowl eligibility. MSU needs two more wins to get to that point and there are certainly winnable games up ahead (such as against the Auburn Tigers, Kentucky Wildcats, and Southern Miss Golden Eagles).

So, will the Bulldogs go bowling?

Great question. We don’t have an answer for that right now. But what we do have an answer for is that Mississippi State is expected to make it to a bowl game by Action Networks’ very own Brett McMurphy.

Mississippi State football bowl projection: Brett McMurphy predicts Bulldogs to face Baylor Bears

According to McMurphy, the Bulldogs currently look like they’ll find a way to get to at least six wins (which is pretty realistic and doable since MSU beat Arkansas this past weekend). With their bowl eligibility, McMurphy believes Zach Arnett’s Mississippi State football team will face the Baylor Bears in the Birmingham Bowl.

Birmingham is a fine city, believe it or not, but that’s not exactly the sort of bowl destination that most Mississippi State football fans wanted prior to the start of this season. With the Bulldogs coming off of a nine-win campaign in 2022, most MSU fans were hopeful for better this season.

That hasn’t been the case.

But at this point, it’d be important for Arnett and the Bulldogs to sustain their bowl game streak and to also get some bowl practices. Half of Mississippi State’s bowl games have happened during the past 13 seasons and this team definitely needs as many snaps and as much practice as possible.

Birmingham isn’t ideal, but that bowl game could help the Bulldogs set up for next season. And that matters.