CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1986 Mississippi State

6–⁠5 (2–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Rockey Felker.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 1986, game by game: won at Syracuse 24–17; won at No. 8 Tennessee 27–23; lost at Southern Miss 24–28; won vs. Florida 16–10; won at Memphis 34–17; won vs. Arkansas State 24–9; won at Tulane 34–27; lost vs. No. 7 Auburn 6–35; lost vs. No. 8 Alabama 3–38; lost vs. No. 12 LSU 0–47; lost at Ole Miss 3–24+17−47Won 24–17 at Syracuse+7SyracuseWon 27–23 at No. 8 Tennessee+4No. 8 TennesseeLost 24–28 at Southern Miss-4Southern MissWon 16–10 vs. Florida+6FloridaWon 34–17 at Memphis+17MemphisWon 24–9 vs. Arkansas State+15Arkansas StateWon 34–27 at Tulane+7TulaneLost 6–35 vs. No. 7 Auburn-29No. 7 AuburnLost 3–38 vs. No. 8 Alabama-35No. 8 AlabamaLost 0–47 vs. No. 12 LSU-47No. 12 LSULost 3–24 at Ole Miss-21Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6atSyracuseW 24–⁠1731%
Sep 13at8TennesseeW 27–⁠2322%
Sep 20atSouthern MissL 24–⁠2845%
Sep 27vsFloridaW 16–⁠1041%
Oct 4atMemphisW 34–⁠1771%
Oct 11vsArkansas StateW 24–⁠978%
Oct 18atTulaneW 34–⁠2770%
Oct 25vs7AuburnL 6–⁠3540%
Nov 1vs8AlabamaL 3–⁠3836%
Nov 15vs12LSUL 0–⁠4735%
Nov 22atOle MissL 3–⁠2436%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Ole Miss 24–⁠3; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 72nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 19
  2. Wk 7: 13
  3. Wk 8: 13
  4. Wk 9: 19
Record
6–⁠5
Conference
2–⁠4 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
195–⁠275
Coach
Rockey Felker
Elo
1472 +8 this season
SP+ rating
-1.2 No. 57 of 101; offense No. 58, defense No. 56
SRS
−3.1 No. 62 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
David Rader
Defensive coordinator
Ronnie Gray

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 2Don Smith RBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 5Kirby Jackson DBNew York Jets

1986 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU5–⁠19–⁠310
Auburn4–⁠210–⁠26
Alabama4–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss4–⁠28–⁠3–⁠1
Georgia4–⁠28–⁠4
Tennessee3–⁠37–⁠5
Mississippi State2–⁠46–⁠5
Florida2–⁠46–⁠5
Kentucky2–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Vanderbilt0–⁠61–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.