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Mississippi State Bulldogs

SECStarkville, MSDavis Wade Stadium

2026: 4–⁠2 (2–⁠2 SEC). Last: lost at No. 22 LSU 31–⁠0. Next: Oklahoma, Saturday, Oct 24, 3:30 p.m. ET.

  1. W 62–⁠13UL Monroe
  2. W 38–⁠13at Minnesota
  3. W 41–⁠34at South Carolina
  4. W 31–⁠24No. 19 Missouri
  5. L 23–⁠56No. 7 Alabama
  6. L 0–⁠31at No. 22 LSU
  7. Oct 24Oklahoma
  8. Oct 31at Texas
  9. Nov 7Vanderbilt
  10. Nov 14Auburn
  11. Nov 21Tennessee Tech
  12. Nov 27at Ole Miss
  • Outfitted by Adidas
  • Live mascot: Bully
  • Sudler Trophy, 2026

Mississippi State in the news

Mississippi State has played football since 1895 and is 615–⁠601–⁠37 in the 1,253 games on record here, which start in 1902. Their best finish in the final AP poll is No. 9, in 2023. They have won one Southeastern Conference title (1941), counting shared titles. Since 1938, the NFL Draft has taken 128 players from here in its first seven rounds, 15 of them in the first round. The AAFC and AFL drafts also took six players from here. The College Football Hall of Fame holds 2 players and 3 coaches from Mississippi State. Jackie Sherrill (1991–⁠2003) won more games here than any other coach: 74. The most-played rival is Ole Miss: 119 meetings, Ole Miss leads 67–⁠46–⁠6. This season, under Jeff Lebby, they’re 4–⁠2.

Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville
Davis Wade StadiumPhoto: Nateb2003, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On this date in 2024Mississippi State lost to No. 14 Texas A&M 34–⁠24 at home.

Résumé

All-time record
597–⁠628–⁠39 official; 615–⁠601–⁠37 on file; how we count
Postseason
15–⁠13 bowls, title games, playoff
AP No. 1 finishes
0
Weeks at No. 1
5 of 197 ranked
Elo now
1522 73rd of 138 FBS
Computer rankings
Massey No. 30 · Composite No. 14 in FBS, Oct 17; down 9 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
Best season by Elo
1942 rated 1720
Conference titles
1 last in 1941
Bowl record
15–⁠12 official, bowls only
Seasons
124 since 1902, 1,253 games

Identity

Fight song
Hail State
Mascot
Bully
Apparel
Adidas
Band
Famous Maroon Band since 1902, 430 members

2026 season 4–⁠2

RosterFull 2026 season
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsUL MonroeW 62–⁠1369%
Sep 12atMinnesotaW 38–⁠1330%
Sep 19atSouth CarolinaW 41–⁠3439%
Sep 26vs19MissouriW 31–⁠2447%
Oct 3vs7AlabamaL 23–⁠5638%
Oct 17at22LSUL 0–⁠3131%
Oct 24vsOklahomaPreview48%
Oct 31atTexasPreview23%
Nov 7vsVanderbiltPreview56%
Nov 14vsAuburnPreview53%
Nov 21vsTennessee TechPreview69%
Nov 27atOle MissPreview18%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

Mississippi State’s Elo through 2026: 1448 going into the opener, 1522 after the latest game; AP rank from No. 24 to unranked.145015001550Elo 1448 going in; beat UL Monroe 62–13Elo 1471 going in; beat Minnesota 38–13Elo 1519 going in; beat South Carolina 41–34Elo 1546 going in; beat Missouri 31–24; AP No. 24Elo 1568 going in; lost to Alabama 56–23; AP No. 16Elo 1542 going in; lost to LSU 31–0; AP No. 16Now: Elo 1522 after the latest game1522
···241616·
UL MonroeMinnesotaSouth CarolinaMissouriAlabamaLSUNow
Elo going into each game, then after the latest. Filled dots: wins; open: losses. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team. Numbers under the line: the AP rank going into each game, and in the newest poll (a dot: unranked).

Future schedule

2027–⁠34
202712 games: 7 home, 5 away
202811 games: 7 home, 4 away
202910 games: 5 home, 5 away
20301 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20321 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20331 game: 1 home, non-conference only
20341 game: 1 home, non-conference only

Mississippi State’s announced games beyond the seasons on our schedule, as its Wikipedia article lists them (announced schedules as of August 25, 2026). Schedules change; a season shows only the games named so far, and many articles list non-conference games only. Future schedules: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Players

The 2026 rosterRecord bookAll-time letterwinnersThe money

On the 2026 team

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Program greats See all

Heisman finalists, College Football Hall of Famers, consensus All-Americans, national award winners and first-round picks, for what they did at Mississippi State.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.

Around the program

Apparel
Adidas · Independently corroborated
Mascot
Bully · Official source
Live mascot
Bully (English Bulldog) · Official source
Athletic director
Zac Selmon · Official source
Defensive coordinator
Zach Arnett · Official source

Found by several AI researchers searching the web, then kept only where the page loads and says so in words naming the program; every quote is checked again each time the data is rebuilt. Official source: the school’s own page. All of them.

The apparel deal

Adidas, from 2009. A seven-year extension signed in 2014 ran through 2020. The current term hasn't been confirmed here.

Apparel deals: Field Drip. Terms as the outlets reported them; checked Oct 3, 2026.

Program strength since 1902

Best seasons ever
Mississippi State end-of-season Elo from 1902 to 2026, best in 1942 at 1720.13001500170019001920194019601980200020201942 peak: Elo 1720
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

On Bluesky

From reporters and writers who cover college football, linked to their posts on Bluesky.

More coverage

Found through the GDELT Project, which indexes news sites worldwide. Each link opens the story on the outlet’s own site; each picture is that outlet’s own preview of its story, shown from its site and credited to it.

Podcasts

Found through Podcast Index, the open podcast directory. Each link opens the episode’s page.

Head coaches

CoachYearsRecord
Jeff Lebby2024–⁠202611–⁠20
Zach Arnett2022–⁠20235–⁠6
Greg Knox2017–⁠20232–⁠1
Mike Leach2020–⁠202219–⁠17
Joe Moorhead2018–⁠201914–⁠12
Dan Mullen2009–⁠201769–⁠46
Sylvester Croom2004–⁠200821–⁠38
Jackie Sherrill1991–⁠200374–⁠76–⁠2
Rockey Felker1986–⁠199021–⁠34
Emory Bellard1979–⁠198537–⁠42
Bob Tyler1973–⁠197839–⁠25–⁠3
Charles Shira1967–⁠197216–⁠45–⁠2
Paul Davis1962–⁠196620–⁠28–⁠2
Wade Walker1956–⁠196122–⁠32–⁠2
Darrell Royal1954–⁠195512–⁠8
Murray Warmath1952–⁠195310–⁠6–⁠3
Slick Morton1949–⁠19518–⁠18–⁠1
Allyn McKeen1939–⁠194865–⁠19–⁠3
Spike Nelson19384–⁠6
Ralph Sasse1935–⁠193720–⁠10–⁠2
Ross McKechnie1933–⁠19347–⁠12–⁠1
Ray Dauber1931–⁠19325–⁠11
Red Cagle19302–⁠7
J.W. Hancock1927–⁠19298–⁠12–⁠4
Bernie Bierman1925–⁠19268–⁠8–⁠1
Earl Able1923–⁠192410–⁠6–⁠2
Charles Noble19223–⁠4–⁠2
Fred Holtkamp1920–⁠19219–⁠7–⁠1
Sid Robinson1917–⁠191915–⁠5
E.C. Hayes1914–⁠191615–⁠8–⁠2
William Chadwick1909–⁠191329–⁠12–⁠2
Fred Furman1907–⁠19089–⁠7
Dan Martin1903–⁠19065–⁠9–⁠1
L. Gwinn19021–⁠4–⁠1

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesMSST record
Ole Miss11946–⁠67–⁠6 ‡
LSU11436–⁠75–⁠3 ‡
Alabama10817–⁠88–⁠3 ‡
Auburn9728–⁠66–⁠2 †
Florida5719–⁠36–⁠2
Tulane5630–⁠25–⁠1
Kentucky5125–⁠26 †
Tennessee4816–⁠30–⁠1 †

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file. Each series page gives both.

Rivals the program names: Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU.

Every opponent (135)

Every program Mississippi State has played, A to Z, with Mississippi State’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Official records. † Without wins the NCAA vacated, or with forfeits counted. ‡ The rivalry’s own count, where it differs from the games on file.

Conference titles

1, counting shared titles
Southeastern Conference 1
1941
SEC West 1
1998 (tied)

As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.

Conferences

  1. Independent 1895
  2. SIAA 1896 and 1901–⁠1921
  3. SEC 1933–⁠1942 and since 1944
  • 1932Joined the SEC from the SoCon. Source

Mississippi State’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time). The moves and their announcement dates from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the year is the first season in the new conference. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

National award winners

All awards
2012Johnthan Banks CBThorpe

Consensus All-Americans 3

2022Emmanuel Forbes DB
2000Fred Smoot CB
1974Jimmy Webb DE

Led the nation 7

2022Liedeatrick Griffin kickoff return average (32.3)
1994Eric Moulds kickoff return average (32.8)
1981Glen Young punt return average (16.2)
1966Marcus Rhoden kickoff return yards (572 yds)
1964Dan Bland kickoff return yards (558 yds)
1956Billy Stacy punt return yards (290 yds)
1952Jackie Parker points (120 pts)

The NCAA’s official national leaders since 1937, from Wikipedia’s yearly leader lists.

In the Hall of Fame

Every inductee
Players
2
Coaches
3
2001D.D. Lewis LB
1991Allyn McKeen coach here, 1939–⁠1948
1983Darrell Royal coach here, 1954–⁠1955
1976Jackie Parker QB
1955Bernie Bierman coach here, 1925–⁠1926

In the draft

By college
NFL picks, rounds 1–⁠7
128 since 1938
First-round picks
15
AAFC and AFL picks
6 1947–⁠48, 1961, 1963–⁠64
2023Emmanuel Forbes CBNo. 16, Washington Commanders
2022Charles Cross OTNo. 9, Seattle Seahawks
2019Jeffery Simmons DTNo. 19, Tennessee Titans
2019Montez Sweat DENo. 26, Washington Redskins
2019Johnathan Abram SNo. 27, Oakland Raiders
2012Fletcher Cox DTNo. 12, Philadelphia Eagles
2011Derek Sherrod OTNo. 32, Green Bay Packers
1996Walt Harris DBNo. 13, Chicago Bears

Who came and went in the 2026 transfer portal, and every portal year.

The school

Mississippi State University
Enrollment
23,150 18,567 undergraduates, fall 2024
Where
Mississippi State, Mississippi
Public or private
Public Research 1
Founded
1878
Graduates’ median earnings
$51,513 10 years after starting

Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.

Official accounts

Football
X @HailStateFBInstagram @HailStateFBFacebook HailStateFB
Athletics department
X @hailstateInstagram @hailstateFacebook hailstate

Official accounts: the schools’ athletics websites: the ones hailstate.com lists for its football program and athletics department, as of Oct 12, 2026.

On the newsreel

Universal Newsreel, National Archives (catalog record). Story titles and words as Universal’s release sheet gives them; the films themselves may still be under copyright, so we link to the record rather than show them.

Books

Books: Open Library (CC0), filed under the program’s Library of Congress subject heading; most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.

Season by season

National champions
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20264–⁠22–⁠2Jeff Lebby152212.6
20255–⁠81–⁠7Jeff Lebby14214.1
20242–⁠100–⁠8Jeff Lebby1367-4.1
20235–⁠71–⁠79Zach Arnett, Greg Knox14750.5
20229–⁠44–⁠420Mike Leach, Zach Arnett162215.4
20217–⁠64–⁠4Mike Leach152510.5
20204–⁠73–⁠7Mike Leach1489-1.4
20196–⁠73–⁠5Joe Moorhead15233.5
20188–⁠54–⁠418Joe Moorhead165923.2
20179–⁠44–⁠419Dan Mullen, Greg Knox166916.0
20166–⁠73–⁠5Dan Mullen15975.4
20159–⁠44–⁠4Dan Mullen166915.1
201410–⁠36–⁠211Dan Mullen166522.2
20137–⁠63–⁠5Dan Mullen158710.7
20128–⁠54–⁠4Dan Mullen15578.1
20117–⁠62–⁠620Dan Mullen15888.0
20109–⁠44–⁠415Dan Mullen163110.6
20095–⁠73–⁠5Dan Mullen15154.7
20084–⁠82–⁠6Sylvester Croom1459-8.8
20078–⁠54–⁠4Sylvester Croom15442.0
20063–⁠91–⁠7Sylvester Croom1398-6.7
20053–⁠81–⁠7Sylvester Croom1363-7.0
20043–⁠82–⁠6Sylvester Croom1354-5.7
20032–⁠101–⁠7Jackie Sherrill1324-12.4
20023–⁠90–⁠8Jackie Sherrill1381-11.5
Every season back to 1902 (99 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20013–⁠82–⁠620Jackie Sherrill14695.0
20008–⁠44–⁠424Jackie Sherrill161716.3
199910–⁠26–⁠213Jackie Sherrill163110.0
19988–⁠56–⁠2Jackie Sherrill15788.9
19977–⁠44–⁠4Jackie Sherrill15509.0
19965–⁠63–⁠5Jackie Sherrill1456-4.0
19953–⁠81–⁠7Jackie Sherrill1437-6.7
19948–⁠45–⁠324Jackie Sherrill15657.6
19933–⁠6–⁠22–⁠5–⁠124Jackie Sherrill14872.4
19927–⁠54–⁠42223Jackie Sherrill15347.5
19917–⁠54–⁠3Jackie Sherrill154910.8
19905–⁠61–⁠6Rockey Felker14841.2
19895–⁠61–⁠6Rockey Felker14261.5
19881–⁠100–⁠7Rockey Felker1329-15.8
19874–⁠71–⁠5Rockey Felker1435-2.8
19866–⁠52–⁠4Rockey Felker1472-1.2
19855–⁠60–⁠6Emory Bellard14472.1
19844–⁠71–⁠5Emory Bellard1439-1.6
19833–⁠81–⁠5Emory Bellard14615.1
19825–⁠62–⁠4Emory Bellard15469.8
19818–⁠44–⁠214Emory Bellard162213.1
19809–⁠35–⁠119Emory Bellard159114.7
19793–⁠82–⁠4Emory Bellard14717.3
19786–⁠52–⁠4Bob Tyler154215.7
19775–⁠62–⁠416Bob Tyler155014.5
19769–⁠24–⁠220Bob Tyler164519.1
19756–⁠4–⁠11–⁠4–⁠1Bob Tyler156312.4
19749–⁠33–⁠317Bob Tyler159120.8
19734–⁠5–⁠22–⁠5Bob Tyler14625.6
19724–⁠71–⁠6Charles Shira14315.4
19712–⁠91–⁠7Charles Shira1366-1.2
19706–⁠53–⁠4Charles Shira14855.1
19693–⁠70–⁠5Charles Shira1359
19680–⁠8–⁠20–⁠4–⁠1Charles Shira1293
19671–⁠90–⁠6Charles Shira1347
19662–⁠80–⁠6Paul Davis1392
19654–⁠61–⁠5Paul Davis1479
19644–⁠62–⁠5Paul Davis1535
19637–⁠2–⁠24–⁠1–⁠2Paul Davis1573
19623–⁠62–⁠5Paul Davis1453
19615–⁠51–⁠5Wade Walker1479
19602–⁠6–⁠10–⁠5–⁠1Wade Walker1429
19592–⁠70–⁠7Wade Walker1425
19583–⁠61–⁠615Wade Walker1497
19576–⁠2–⁠14–⁠2–⁠114Wade Walker1580
19564–⁠62–⁠5Wade Walker1495
19556–⁠44–⁠4Darrell Royal1537
19546–⁠43–⁠3Darrell Royal1569
19535–⁠2–⁠33–⁠1–⁠3Murray Warmath1578
19525–⁠43–⁠4Murray Warmath1508
19514–⁠52–⁠5Slick Morton1424
19504–⁠53–⁠4Slick Morton1435
19490–⁠8–⁠10–⁠6Slick Morton1359
19484–⁠4–⁠13–⁠3Allyn McKeen1552
19477–⁠32–⁠2Allyn McKeen1589
19468–⁠23–⁠2Allyn McKeen1621
19456–⁠32–⁠320Allyn McKeen1621
19446–⁠23–⁠2Allyn McKeen1633
19428–⁠25–⁠218Allyn McKeen1720
19418–⁠1–⁠14–⁠0–⁠11916Allyn McKeen1706
194010–⁠0–⁠14–⁠0–⁠19Allyn McKeen1710
19398–⁠23–⁠2Allyn McKeen1570
19384–⁠61–⁠4Spike Nelson1420
19375–⁠4–⁠13–⁠2Ralph Sasse1497
19367–⁠3–⁠13–⁠2Ralph Sasse1573
19358–⁠32–⁠3Ralph Sasse1522
19344–⁠60–⁠5Ross McKechnie1397
19333–⁠6–⁠11–⁠5–⁠1Ross McKechnie1348
19323–⁠50–⁠4Ray Dauber1309
19312–⁠60–⁠5Ray Dauber1271
19302–⁠72–⁠3Red Cagle1236
19291–⁠5–⁠20–⁠3–⁠1J.W. Hancock1335
19282–⁠4–⁠21–⁠4J.W. Hancock1401
19275–⁠32–⁠3J.W. Hancock1483
19265–⁠42–⁠3Bernie Bierman1465
19253–⁠4–⁠11–⁠4Bernie Bierman1462
19245–⁠43–⁠2Earl Able1446
19235–⁠2–⁠22–⁠1–⁠2Earl Able1467
19223–⁠4–⁠22–⁠3Charles Noble1416
19214–⁠4–⁠11–⁠3–⁠1Fred Holtkamp1481
19205–⁠33–⁠2Fred Holtkamp1529
19196–⁠24–⁠2Sid Robinson1549
19183–⁠22–⁠0Sid Robinson1540
19176–⁠13–⁠1Sid Robinson1593
19164–⁠4–⁠12–⁠3E.C. Hayes1536
19155–⁠2–⁠13–⁠2E.C. Hayes1609
19146–⁠24–⁠2E.C. Hayes1616
19136–⁠1–⁠13–⁠1–⁠1William Chadwick1580
19124–⁠32–⁠3William Chadwick1528
19117–⁠2–⁠13–⁠2–⁠1William Chadwick1545
19107–⁠24–⁠2William Chadwick1503
19095–⁠40–⁠4William Chadwick1447
19083–⁠41–⁠2Fred Furman1426
19076–⁠33–⁠2Fred Furman1453
19062–⁠2–⁠11–⁠2–⁠1Dan Martin1389
1905few games on file0–⁠20–⁠2Dan Martin1372
19042–⁠50–⁠3Dan Martin1376
1903few games on file1–⁠01–⁠0Dan Martin1452
19021–⁠4–⁠10–⁠2–⁠1L. Gwinn1395

Officially 597–⁠628–⁠39 since 1895 (per Wikipedia, checked Oct 3, 2026); game by game here, 615–⁠601–⁠37 (+18 wins, −27 losses, −2 ties). Our file starts in 1902; the program began in 1895. Official totals drop vacated and forfeited wins. Some games are missing from our source.

No season on file for 1943: wartime seasons, when many programs didn’t play.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.