The Mississippi State-Illinois pairing in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa, Fla., was 1 of the last bowl matchups to be announced Sunday.

It wasn’t accompanied by a lot of drama.

It’s not a particularly glamorous matchup even though it features a team from the Southeastern Conference and a team from the Big Ten.

It matches teams with contrasting styles, but teams that appear to be evenly matched.

It might wind up one of the more compelling games of the bowl season when it kicks off Monday, Jan. 2, at noon (Eastern time).

Here are 5 observations about the Mississippi State-Illinois game:

Rankings radar

Neither of these teams was involved in national conversations during the season, but both spent time in the rankings.

The Fighting Illini came from outside the preseason discussions to land in the AP Top 25 for 5 weeks and appeared in the College Football Playoff rankings for the first time.

State (8-4, 4-4 in the SEC) was in and out of the poll before returning late in the season and winding up No. 22 in the final CFP rankings after an Egg Bowl victory against Ole Miss.

Contrasting recent bowl histories

Going to a bowl game has turned into business as usual for the Bulldogs. This is the 13th consecutive season that they have gone to a bowl, which is a school record.

They are 1-1 for head coach Mike Leach.

The Illini (8-4, 5-4 in the Big Ten) are ending a 2-year absence from bowl games.

The advantage in bowl experience could be helpful to the Bulldogs, but the excitement generated by the return to the postseason could be an advantage for Illinois.

Bielema knows cowbells

Illinois coach Bret Bielema is more familiar with State than his university is.

Bielema led a team against the Bulldogs 5 times when he was coach at SEC West rival Arkansas (2013-2017). He won just 1 of those games, which is the same number of victories that Illinois and State each have against each other in their 2 previous meetings.

The Illini won, 27-0, in 1917, and the Bulldogs won, 28-21, in 1980. Both games were played in Champaign, Ill.

Sticky-fingered secondaries

Ball security could be a big factor in this game. These are 2 of the best defenses in the country at intercepting passes.

Illini quarterback Aidan O’Connell and State’s Will Rogers need to be especially careful with the football without losing their aggressiveness.

Illinois, which ranks 2nd in the country in points allowed (12.3 a game) and 3rd in total yards allowed (263.8), is No. 1 in interceptions (22). That’s close to 2 a game, so if they have just an average game in that regard, that could be a difference-maker.

State leads the SEC with 14 interceptions, led by Emmanuel Forbes’ 6. Forbes, the NCAA career leader in pick-6s, has 3 of them this season.

So even if the Bulldogs don’t make as many interceptions as the Illini, they could come out ahead in this area if Forbes adds to his record.

Run vs. Pass

The Illini are really good at running the football. The Bulldogs are really good at passing it.

Bielema’s offensive approach and Leach’s approach could not be more different from one another.

Illinois’ Chase Brown is the No. 2 rusher in the country with 1,643 yards (with 10 touchdowns), and he is a finalist for the Doak Walker Award. Rogers leads the SEC with 3,713 passing yards. He has 34 touchdown passes and just 6 interceptions.

Both Brown and Rogers could have difficulty matching their typical numbers against good defenses, but the one comes the closest to doing what he normally does could be a major factor.