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Mississippi State vs. Southern Miss

Mississippi State and Southern Miss have 32 meetings on file, the first in 1935; officially, Mississippi State leads 17–⁠14–⁠1; as played, 19–⁠12–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s Mississippi State 7–⁠3, and Mississippi State has won the last 7. Mississippi State forfeited two games (1975 and 1976). This page counts every game as it was played.

Scheduled 2031 at Mississippi State. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

Official series
Mississippi State leads 17–⁠14–⁠1
Mississippi State wins on file
19
Southern Miss wins on file
12
Ties
1
Earliest on file
1935
Longest streak
7 Southern Miss
Current streak
7 Mississippi State
Last 10 meetings
Mississippi State 7–⁠3
Most recent
2025

The series at a glance

’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1930s1–⁠0
1940s1–⁠0
1960s4–⁠2
1970s4–⁠3–⁠1
1980s3–⁠7
1990s1–⁠0
2010s3–⁠0
2020s2–⁠0
Both ranked
1 meeting: Mississippi State 0, Southern Miss 1
Average margin
14.8 points; 14 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Mississippi State
14–⁠5–⁠1 Mississippi State’s record at home
At Southern Miss
7–⁠5 Southern Miss’s record at home
Shutouts
2

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. Mississippi State’s biggest win2014: Mississippi State 49, Southern Miss 0by 49 points
  2. Southern Miss’s biggest win1968: Southern Miss 47, Mississippi State 14by 33 points
  3. Upset1989: Mississippi State 26, Southern Miss 23Mississippi State had a 20% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1977: Southern Miss 14, Mississippi State 7Southern Miss had a 29% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  5. Ranked showdown1981: Southern Miss 7, Mississippi State 6No. 15 Mississippi State at No. 20 Southern Miss

Coach against coach

YearsMississippi StateSeriesSouthern Miss
1964–⁠1966Paul Davis3–⁠0Pie Vann
1969–⁠1972Charles Shira3–⁠0P.W. Underwood
1975–⁠1978Bob Tyler2–⁠2Bobby Collins
1979–⁠1981Emory Bellard0–⁠3Bobby Collins
1982–⁠1985Emory Bellard2–⁠2Jim Carmody
1988–⁠1990Rockey Felker2–⁠1Curley Hallman

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from Mississippi State’s side (Davis 3–⁠0 against Vann). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of Mississippi State and Southern Miss, 1935 on13001500170019401960198020002020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Jett Johnson Mississippi State18 tackles, 1 sack, 2 for loss, 1 INT2023 Defense
Nathaniel Watson Mississippi State21 tackles, 1 sack, 1.5 for loss2023 Defense

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

Every game

Aug 30, 2025Mississippi State 34, Southern Miss 17at Southern Miss
Nov 18, 2023Mississippi State 41, Southern Miss 20at Mississippi State
Sep 7, 2019Mississippi State 38, Southern Miss 15at Mississippi State
Sep 5, 2015Mississippi State 34, Southern Miss 16at Southern Miss
Aug 30, 2014Mississippi State 49, Southern Miss 0at Mississippi State
Sep 22, 1990Mississippi State 13, Southern Miss 10at Mississippi State
Sep 9, 1989Mississippi State 26, 18Southern Miss 23at Southern Miss
Oct 15, 1988Southern Miss 38, Mississippi State 21at Southern Miss
Oct 17, 1987Southern Miss 18, Mississippi State 14at Southern Miss
Sep 20, 1986Southern Miss 28, Mississippi State 24at Southern Miss
Sep 21, 1985Mississippi State 23, Southern Miss 20at Mississippi State
Oct 6, 1984Mississippi State 27, Southern Miss 18at Mississippi State
Oct 8, 1983Southern Miss 31, Mississippi State 6at Southern Miss
Oct 9, 1982Southern Miss 20, Mississippi State 14at Southern Miss
Nov 7, 198120Southern Miss 7, 15Mississippi State 6at Southern Miss
Oct 11, 1980Southern Miss 42, Mississippi State 14at Mississippi State
Oct 27, 1979Southern Miss 21, Mississippi State 7at Mississippi State
Oct 7, 1978Southern Miss 22, Mississippi State 17at Southern Miss
Oct 22, 1977Southern Miss 14, Mississippi State 7at Mississippi State
Oct 23, 197620Mississippi State 14, Southern Miss 6forfeitedat Southern Miss
Oct 4, 1975Mississippi State 7, Southern Miss 3forfeitedat Mississippi State
Oct 27, 1973Mississippi State 10, Southern Miss 10at Mississippi State
Oct 21, 1972Mississippi State 26, Southern Miss 7at Mississippi State
Oct 24, 1970Mississippi State 51, Southern Miss 15at Mississippi State
Oct 11, 1969Mississippi State 34, Southern Miss 20at Mississippi State
Oct 12, 1968Southern Miss 47, Mississippi State 14at Mississippi State
Oct 14, 1967Southern Miss 21, Mississippi State 14at Mississippi State
Oct 8, 1966Mississippi State 10, Southern Miss 9at Mississippi State
Oct 9, 19659Mississippi State 27, Southern Miss 9at Mississippi State
Oct 17, 1964Mississippi State 48, Southern Miss 7at Mississippi State
Nov 22, 1947Mississippi State 14, Southern Miss 7at Mississippi State
Nov 15, 1935Mississippi State 27, Southern Miss 0at Southern Miss

Every game is listed as played on the field; a game one side later forfeited is marked “forfeited”; the official series above counts them the NCAA’s way.