Arkansas will be playing this game without their long time head coach Houston Nutt, who moved over to Ole Miss after the regular season. He put up some decent numbers for the program despite getting quite a bit of flack from the fans, but the Hogs wasted no time in filling his position with a big name in Bobby Petrino. Petrino will have no role in how the Razorbacks play this one though, except for maybe a little extra motivation as to how the depth chart is going to shake out next season. It's all about Darren McFadden for Arkansas though as he rushed for 1,725 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. He also managed to set an SEC record with 321 rushing yards against South Carolina back on November 3rd, which was just one of nine games that he surpassed the century mark. Even though the Razorbacks finished the year at 8-4, the team did win five of their last six games, including a big win in Baton Rouge to close out their season. Defensively the team was a little bit against the pass than the rush, which should match up well against the pass heavy offense Missouri employs.

Missouri was 11-2 this year and really could have been playing for the national title if they didn't get smoked 38-17 by Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. The Tigers were led by Chase Daniel who had an incredible year at quarterback, throwing for 4,170 yards and 33 touchdowns. He set Missouri up for their title shot by dicing through the Kansas Jayhawks, but was disappointed in his performance against the Sooners. The good news is that he will have Chase Coffman, his NFL prototype tight end, back in the lineup for this one, giving him another weapon to throw to. How will Missouri react to playing in this game against Arkansas? The Tigers had their sites on the BCS and the loss to the Sooners pushed them back, while they get to watch Oklahoma and Kansas both play after them. This season was a success and they achieved more than expected, but will that last loss be too tough for them to rebound from?

Interesting Trends:
Arkansas is 5-1 ATS in their last six games
The total has gone OVER in four of the Razorbacks' last five games

Missouri is 6-3 ATS in their last nine games
The total has gone OVER in four of the Tigers' last six

Oddsmakers predicted score:
Arkansas Razorbacks 33
Missouri Tigers 36

2008 Cotton Bowl Odds:
Arkansas Razorbacks +3
Missouri Tigers -3

Total set at 69

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