:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71815969/1244571236.0.jpg "ReliaQuest Bowl announcers: Who is announcing Mississippi State-Illinois")
The Illinois Fighting Illini and Mississippi State Bulldogs will hit the field for the ReliaQuest Bowl on Monday afternoon from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. Kickoff is set for noon ET and will air on ESPN2 with Dave Flemming (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (analyst) and Tiffany Blackmon (sideline) calling the game.
Mississippi State (8-4, 4-4 SEC) will play its first game since the passing of head coach Mike Leach. Zach Arnett is now in charge of the program and will try to get the players focused to finish the season strong on Monday afternoon. In its most recent game, the Bulldogs knocked off the Ole Miss Rebels 24-22 on Thanksgiving.
Illinois (8-4, 5-4 Big Ten) jumped out to a lead in the Big Ten West division before letting it slip away with a three-game losing streak in November. The Illini entered bowl season coming off a 41-3 win over the Northwestern Wildcats in the regular season finale. They qualified for a bowl game for the second time in the last eight years as Bret Bielema has Illinois headed in the right direction in Year 2.
Mississippi State is a 3-point favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook with -150 moneyline odds, making Illinois a +130 underdog. The over/under is set at 46.