Why isn't the Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State on Thanksgiving?

With Week 14 of college football here, that can only mean one thing.

Another chapter of the Egg Bowl will be written between Ole Miss and Mississippi State football.

The rivalry game between two of the Southeastern Conference’s oldest members will have a new twist this year: The game, a Thanksgiving staple, has been moved to Black Friday.

Required reading:Where Ole Miss football ranks in the College Football Playoff poll: See the full list

Friday’s meeting between the Rebels and Bulldogs marks the second time in recent years that the rivalry game will not be played on Thanksgiving, the other time being in 2020. However, that game took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Why was this year’s Egg Bowl rivalry postponed from Thanksgiving?

Here’s what you need to know about why The Egg Bowl won’t be played on Thanksgiving this year:

Why isn’t The Egg Bowl on Thanksgiving?

As previously reported by the Clarion-Ledger, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said at an alumni event at the Country Club of Jackson in June that the game will be played on Friday because ABC has the game on that day compared to Thanksgiving wanted. ABC has a 10-year deal as the SEC’s exclusive broadcast partner in its first season.

“In this negotiation, ABC came to us and said we want this date and we want to play at this time,” Carter said in June. “And we actually had a little bit of bargaining power with another game that we could schedule away from home at the time we wanted.”

As noted in Ole Miss’ game notes, this is the first time the Egg Bowl will be played on a Friday since the 2008 season, when Ole Miss won 45-0 at Oxford.

Breaking News

Dellupodisabato

Leave a Reply Cancel reply