I-Bowl talk

The Independence Bowl picture is a little clearer after last week's games.

Mississippi State's win over Alabama gives the SEC 10 qualifiers, meaning the I-Bowl won't be sweating out an SEC team.

The leading possibilities on the SEC side remain Mississippi State and Arkansas. Those two teams meet on Saturday in Little Rock.

If State wins Saturday and then again against Ole Miss, the Bulldogs might play their way out of the Shreveport picture. The same could be said for Arkansas with its final game at LSU.

The Big 12 side got a little more interesting last weekend. The I-Bowl had representatives at Nebraska-Kansas State on Saturday. They came to look at Kansas State, only to see Nebraska steamroll the Wildcats.

Still, the leaders on that side remain Texas A&M and Kansas State.

In a perfect ticket-selling world, A&M would play either Arkansas or Mississippi State on Dec. 30. There is some sentiment for a rematch of the Snow Bowl with A&M-State. But there is also the possibility of a Heisman winner/finalist in Darren McFadden playing here.