Sugar Bowl 2016: Latest Odds, Storylines for Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma State

The Sugar Bowl isn’t among the trio of College Football Playoff games this year, but the matchup pitting No. 12 Ole Miss vs. No. 16 Oklahoma State is still one of great intrigue. 

It’s a matchup of avenging aspirations of sorts, as the Rebels were spanked 42-3 in last year’s bowl loss to TCU, while the Cowboys lost the Big 12 title with consecutive defeats to Baylor and Oklahoma to finish the regular season. 

Here is a look at game info, odds and a few storylines heading into one of the great New Year's Six games. 

Date: January 1

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Mercedes-Benz Superdome (New Orleans, Louisiana)

TV: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Odds: Ole Miss (-7), per Odds Shark

Cowboys QB Mason Rudolph Questionable to Start

Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph’s status for Friday’s game remains in question as he continues to recover from a foot injury, according to Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World.

The sophomore has been practicing without the protective boot he’s been wearing since sustaining the injury in the regular-season finale and didn’t show limitations in Sunday’s practice, per Kyle Fredrickson of The Oklahoman:

Rudolph, who started 14 straight games and ranks 16th nationally with 299.3 pass yards per game, hasn’t been made available to the media this week, which is a standard practice for injured players to keep focus on football and the opposition on their toes. 

He’s been largely overshadowed in a conference that fields superstars such as Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield and TCU’s Trevone Boykin, but Rudolph has quietly put together an impressive season—3,591 pass yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions. 

The Cowboys’ limited ground game won’t bode well against an Ole Miss defense that ranks 28th nationally against the run (132.4 yards per game), so they’ll need Rudolph at full strength to execute what will likely be a pass-heavy game plan. 

Rebels’ star DE Robert Nkemdiche Will Not Play vs. OSU

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Rebels standout defensive end Robert Nkemdiche has been suspended for Friday's game and will declare for the NFL draft, according to Chris Low of ESPN.com, after an in incident in Atlanta in which he was charged with marijuana possession and fell from a 15-foot hotel room. 

Nkemdiche was the No. 1 overall recruit in 2013 by 247Sports and has long been expected to be a first-round draft pick—character issues notwithstanding. 

Head coach Hugh Freeze said Ole Miss will “support him as he prepares for the next chapter in his life” but that he “will not be joining us,” per the AP. 

The Rebels will greatly miss their star end—particularly in a matchup against one of the nation’s most prolific offenses.

The Cowboys have manifested 489.5 yards per game of total offense into 41.2 points per game, good for ninth in the FBS.

The key will be to keep the game close early, as one of their pitfalls last year was losing the time of possession to TCU by more than 10 minutes. 

If they can establish a ground game to chew up clock and keep their defense off the field, they should be able to create enough offensive firepower to outlast the Cowboys.