A&M is going to have a lot more talent than we will, and a more experienced proven head coach and coaching staff. The game is at A&M. I don't expect it to be close. Florida will probably be more like 7-5. Billy will be fired. But they'll still be favored over us. As for Egg Bowl, the better team usually wins, and the much better team almost always wins. You never know, but I'll be very surprised if we win this.
So, when I say "toss up", I don't mean a Vegas toss-up. I mean more of a "functional" toss-up, meaning that mid way through the 4th quarter, either team has a functional chance of winning the game and, for me, in college football with the first down clock stop, that's a differential of 2 scores or less. I guess instead of 'toss up', I should use a phrase like "I believe we'll be competitive in those games with a chance to win".
A&M has always had more talent than we have and we've beaten them as much as they've beaten us and that was with a head coach that won a national championship. I don't believe Elko is a proven head coach after 2 seasons at Duke. They were 7-5 this year with a Charmin soft schedule. I'm not saying we'll beat them, but I think we have a chance to.
Florida will probably be favored against us, but they're always favored against us. I don't think there's some big jump between a 5-7 team and 7-5 team outside bowl eligibility. Again, this isn't a prediction that we win that game; it's just not a foregone conclusion that we'll lose, like for instance Georgia.
Going back to the Mullen era, there are a lot of years where State and Ole Miss are neck and neck, but I would say that the following Egg Bowl teams beat better opponents:
2009 Mississippi State
2012 Ole Miss
2014 Ole Miss
2017 Ole Miss
2022 Mississippi State
The point differentials in that time have been:
State +14
State +8
State +28
Ole Miss +17
State +7
Ole Miss +14
Ole Miss +9
State +35
Ole Miss +3
State +32
State +1
Ole Miss +7
Ole Miss +10
State +2
Ole Miss +10
So, since 2009, there have been:
6 single score games
5 two score games
4 three+ score games (3 by State, 1 by Ole Miss)
More often than not, the Egg Bowl is winnable by either team going into the 4th quarter. That's not a Vegas betting toss-up, but it's a "functional" toss-up. The Egg Bowl is competitive more often than it isn't.