Texas Tech (11-1) vs. Mississippi (8-4)
Cotton Bowl Stadium, 1 p.m. Friday, FOX.

Coaches
Texas Tech - Mike Leach, 76-38 in nine seasons
Mississippi - Houston Nutt, 119-74 in 16 seasons, 8-4 in one season at Mississippi.

How Texas Tech got here
The Red Raiders finished in a three-way tie for the Big 12 South Division. They defeated No. 1 Texas on Nov. 1 in Lubbock but lost at Oklahoma on Nov. 22.

How Mississippi got here
Houston Nutt reversed the Rebels' fortunes in his first season in Oxford. Ole Miss handed Florida its only loss of the season and also defeated defending national champion LSU. Both were road victories.

Texas Tech play makers
Graham Harrell, Sr. QB; Michael Crabtree, So. WR; Baron Batch, So. RB; Shannon Woods, Sr. RB; Detron Lewis, So. WR.

Mississippi play makers
Jevan Snead, So. QB; Cordera Eason, Jr. RB; Dexter McCluster, Jr. RB; Shay Hodge, Jr. WR.

Story lines
Texas Tech senior quarterback Graham Harrell, who has recovered from surgery to his left (non-passing) hand following the season finale, needs two touchdown passes to become Division I-A's career leader in TD passes. ... Harrell and his favorite target, sophomore receiver Michael Crabtree, will have plenty of relatives and friends in the stands. Harrell is from Ennis (about 35 miles south of Dallas) while Crabtree is from South Dallas. ... Crabtree, who became the first player to win consecutive Biletnikoff Awards as the country's top receiver, on the Rebels' willingness to play man-to-man coverage: "Man coverage? I'm thinking touchdown. Every time I see man coverage. I feel if I don't score on man coverage then something's wrong." ... This will be the last Cotton Bowl played in the Cotton Bowl Stadium. Next year the game moves to the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington, Texas. ... Ole Miss sophomore quarterback Jevan Snead started his career at Texas before transferring. ... Snead passed for 2,470 yards and 23 touchdowns. Ten of his 12 interceptions came during the first seven games. ... The Red Raiders are trying to win 12 games in a season for the first time in school history. ... The Rebels' four losses came by a total of 19 points. ... Ole Miss has won five consecutive games. ... Ole Miss beat Texas Tech in the Independence Bowl in 1986 and 1998. ... Texas Tech is 0-3 in the Cotton Bowl (appearances in 1939, 1995 and 2006). ... Ole Miss is 2-1 in the Cotton Bowl. The Rebels won their last appearance in the game, beating Oklahoma State.