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1996 Mississippi State

5–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Jackie Sherrill.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 1996, game by game: won at Memphis 31–10; lost vs. Louisiana Tech 23–38; won at South Carolina 14–10; lost vs. Georgia 19–38; lost vs. No. 18 Auburn 15–49; lost at No. 13 LSU 20–28; won vs. UL Monroe 59–0; lost at Kentucky 21–24; won vs. No. 8 Alabama 17–16; lost vs. Arkansas 13–16; won at Ole Miss 17–0+59−34Won 31–10 at Memphis+21MemphisLost 23–38 vs. Louisiana Tech-15Louisiana TechWon 14–10 at South Carolina+4South CarolinaLost 19–38 vs. Georgia-19GeorgiaLost 15–49 vs. No. 18 Auburn-34No. 18 AuburnLost 20–28 at No. 13 LSU-8No. 13 LSUWon 59–0 vs. UL Monroe+59UL MonroeLost 21–24 at Kentucky-3KentuckyWon 17–16 vs. No. 8 Alabama+1No. 8 AlabamaLost 13–16 vs. Arkansas-3ArkansasWon 17–0 at Ole Miss+17Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7atMemphisW 31–⁠1050%
Sep 21vsLouisiana TechL 23–⁠3868%
Sep 28atSouth CarolinaW 14–⁠1036%
Oct 5vsGeorgiaL 19–⁠3854%
Oct 12vs18AuburnL 15–⁠4931%
Oct 26at13LSUL 20–⁠2819%
Nov 2vsUL MonroeW 59–⁠070%
Nov 9atKentuckyL 21–⁠2448%
Nov 16vs8AlabamaW 17–⁠1620%
Nov 23vsArkansasL 13–⁠1654%
Nov 30atOle MissW 17–⁠034%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Ole Miss 17–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 81st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1996.

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
249–⁠229
Coach
Jackie Sherrill
Elo
1456 −2 this season
SP+ rating
-4.0 No. 69 of 111; offense No. 84, defense No. 49
SRS
−2.4 No. 65 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Lynn Amedee
Defensive coordinator
Joe Lee Dunn
Offense
Multiple
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 3Brent Smith OTMiami Dolphins
Rd 4Terry Day DENew York Jets

All-SEC

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Paul LacosteLBAP-2
  • Andy RussPAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida8–⁠012–⁠11
Tennessee7–⁠110–⁠29
LSU6–⁠210–⁠212
Alabama6–⁠210–⁠311
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠424
South Carolina4–⁠46–⁠5
Georgia3–⁠55–⁠6
Mississippi State3–⁠55–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠54–⁠7
Ole Miss2–⁠65–⁠6
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠9

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