There is never a foolproof way to know whether a Power 5 conference team with a losing record will demonstrate the motivation necessary to play well in a middle-tier bowl game. For Mississippi State, that was perhaps the biggest question as it took the field Monday for the St. Petersburg Bowl against Miami (Ohio).
This was a Bulldogs team, after all, that was capable of losing to FCS foe South Alabama and beating No. 4 Texas A&M in the same season. This was a team that reached its school-record seventh consecutive bowl but did so only because there weren't enough six-win FBS teams this season, which allowed the Bulldogs to sneak in at 5-7 based on their Academic Progress Rate.