2013 Liberty Bowl
The 2013 Liberty Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game played on December 31, 2013, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 55th edition of the Liberty Bowl, it featured the Rice Owls, the champions of Conference USA and the Mississippi State Bulldogs of the Southeastern Conference. It began at 3:00 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. It was one of the 2013–14 bowl games that concluded the 2013 FBS football season. Sponsored by automobile parts and accessories store AutoZone, it was officially known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Mississippi State defeated Rice by a score of 44–7.
| 2013 AutoZone Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 55th Liberty Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 31, 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Memphis, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Dak Prescott (QB, Mississippi State) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Mississippi State by 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ron Cherry (ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 57,846 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Payout | US$1.2 million per team | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Bob Wischusen (play-by-play) Rod Gilmore (analyst) Quint Kessenich (sideline) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Bulldogs accepted their invitation after finishing the regular season 6–6, while the Owls advanced by virtue of winning the C-USA Championship Game over Marshall, 41–24.