Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles Prediction, Odds and New Orleans Bowl Picks for Today, 12/23/25

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers hit the road for the Big Easy to battle in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in a Conference USA vs Sun Belt battle. Western Kentucky is affected greatly by the transfer portal, as running back La’Vell Wright has opted out of this game. He had 460 rushing yards with 5.8 yards per carry, but — more importantly — he led the team with 10 rushing touchdowns. The other 12 ball-carriers for the Hilltoppers combined for just 10 touchdowns, so it’s a huge loss for the offense. Western Kentucky finished with a pair of 3-point losses — but those came at LSU and at Jacksonville State — and it was 4-1 ATS in the final 5 outings.

The Golden Eagles were also affected by losses. Head coach Charles Huff bolted for the same job at Memphis after leading a great turnaround in Hattiesburg. Offensive coordinator Blake Anderson was named as the full-time replacement. Only safety Corey Myrick has elected to go into the portal, while defensive lineman JJ Hawkins — injured in the season finale — might not play. Other than that, we’ll get mostly the same Southern Miss team that was able to cobble together 7 wins. However, USM was 0-4 ATS down the stretch — all as a single-digit favorite. That’s a bit concerning. But, again, Western Mich is also missing a huge chunk of its offense and the fans will likely be mostly black and gold, as it’s a quick drive from Southern Miss to NOLA. That will help the Golden Eagles, too.

Western Kentucky vs Southern Miss prediction: Southern Miss -1.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -1.

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