It’s not sounding like ESPN is giving the Missouri Tigers much of a chance in Dec. 29’s Cotton Bowl matchup vs. Ohio State.
Per the network’s College Football Power Index, the Buckeyes have a 75.5% chance of defeating Eli Drinkowitz and Mizzou to capture their third bowl win under Ryan Day.
ESPN is only giving the 10-2 Tigers a 24.5% despite being one-point underdogs in Friday night’s affair at AT&T Stadium.
⏲️ T-Minus 3 days until gameday. Who is excited to cheer on the @ohiostatefb?! #LikeNoOther | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/20tmquV3R4
— Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (@CottonBowlGame) December 26, 2023
Missouri finished second in the SEC East with its only losses coming to Jayden Daniels’ LSU Tigers and No. 2 Georgia (at the time).
Meanwhile, one-loss Ohio State will play without quarterback Kyle McCord who recently transferred to the Syracuse Orange. They’ll also be missing safety Lathan Ransom who unfortunately wasn’t able to recover from a lower leg injury in time.
The Cotton Bowl will be broadcast at 8 PM ET on ESPN in front of a 100,000 capacity crowd.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Marvin Harrison Jr. will be participating either.