The 2013 Liberty Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on December 31, 2013 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. The 55th edition of the Liberty Bowl, it featured the Mississippi State Bulldogs of the Southeastern Conference and the Rice Owls, the champions of Conference USA. 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.

The Bulldogs accepted their invitation after finishing 6–6 in their season, while the Owls advanced by virtue of their winning the Conference USA championship with a 10–3 record.

This was the second meeting between Mississippi State and Rice's football teams; the Bulldogs won the first matchup in 1975 by a score of 28–14, but were later forced to forfeit that game among others during the 1975 through 1977 seasons for NCAA rules violations. The Bulldogs were invited to the game despite an inferior record to Vanderbilt, who was 8–4, likely in part due to their proximity and past attendance; in 2007, the Bulldogs played in the bowl and filled the stands with a record 63,816 fans.

After finishing the previous season 8–4 and losing the Gator Bowl to the Northwestern Wildcats by a score of 34–20, the Bulldogs declined somewhat in the next season, finishing 6–6 overall and 3–5 in conference play, tied with rival Ole Miss for fifth place in the SEC's Western Division. Nonetheless, that was sufficient for bowl director Steve Ehrhart to extend an invitation to the Bulldogs. This will be Mississippi State's record–tying fourth Liberty Bowl; the Bulldogs are currently 2–1 in the game, having won the 1963 game over the NC State Wolfpack by a score of 16–12, lost the 1991 game to Air Force Falcons 38–15, and won the 2007 game over the UCF Knights 10–3.

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