2025 New Orleans Bowl Prediction: Southern Miss vs Western Kentucky
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The New Orleans Bowl hasn’t been too bad lately.
It should be good, considering it’s always between two strong Group of Five teams that are almost always at full go, but the bowl had a rough run for several years before two good ones in a row – even if last year’s Sam Houston win over Georgia Southern wasn’t nearly as solid as the 31-26 final score.
This year’s version would’ve been good if everything was in place, but Southern Miss head coach Charles Huff is off to Memphis. Even so, the move of veteran head man Blake Anderson into the full-time head coaching spot might be a plus in a set-tone-for-2026 thing.
Western Kentucky might have been the best team in Conference USA, but it lost to Jacksonville State in the regular season finale. Head coach Tyson Helton was 4-1 in bowl games until losing last year’s Boca Raton.
Southern Miss vs Western Kentucky: New Orleans Bowl Preview & Pick
How To Watch Southern Miss vs Western Kentucky
Date: Tuesday, December 23
Game Time: 5:30 pm ET
TV: ESPN
Location: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, LA
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Why Western Kentucky Will Win
This bunch can score.
Turnovers have been a huge problem over the second half of the season, but those are the cost of doing business for an attack that’s sharp through the air and was dominant on the ground late in the CUSA season.
Southern Miss fell late in the season on the defensive front. The run D was never all that great, but it couldn’t do anything against South Alabama, got ripped through by Texas State, and WKU will start this out by mixing things up.
It’s a scoring thing with this team. The Hilltoppers aren’t built for defensive slugfests, and when they can be just okay offensively, they win, going 8-1 when scoring 27 or more. But again …
Why Southern Miss Will Win
The WKU turnovers – they’re a problem.
And again, they usually overcome the mistakes with offensive answers on the next possession, but Southern Miss pounces on takeaways.
This might not be the tightest of Golden Eagle defenses, but it was a turnover-forcing machine for most of the year. That was part of the problem over the last three games, coming up with just one takeaway after forcing 25 over the first nine games.
USM is 7-0 when forcing two turnovers, 0-5 when it doesn’t, and Western Kentucky has given it up multiple times in seven games.
And the offense can produce, too.
Quarterback Braylon Braxton is a terrific passer who should keep things moving against a good Hilltopper secondary, and …
Southern Miss vs Western Kentucky Prediction, Betting Lines
Southern Miss needed a shake-up, anyway.
Of course Charles Huff is and was a good head coach – he turned around the Golden Eagles in a snap – but the team lost its groove over the finishing kick of the season. Going right to Anderson will matter – he’s not some interim guy; this is his team now.
The Golden Eagle defense will come up with the big plays missing in November, the offense will keep up, and the program will have its second bowl win since 2022 and its second since 2016.
Southern Miss 30, Western Kentucky 27
Line: WKU -4, o/u: 55.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2
Must See Rating: 4
Consensus Line from BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Related: 2025 Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl Prediction: Louisville vs Toledo
This story was originally published by College Football News on Dec 13, 2025, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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