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1998 Mississippi State

8–⁠5 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Jackie Sherrill.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 1998, game by game: won vs. Vanderbilt 42–0; won at Memphis 14–6; lost at Oklahoma State 23–42; won at South Carolina 38–0; won vs. Auburn 38–21; won vs. East Tennessee State 53–6; lost at LSU 6–41; lost at Kentucky 35–37; won vs. Alabama 26–14; won vs. No. 9 Arkansas 22–21; won at Ole Miss 28–6; lost vs. No. 1 Tennessee 14–24; lost vs. No. 20 Texas 11–38+47−35Won 42–0 vs. Vanderbilt+42VanderbiltWon 14–6 at Memphis+8MemphisLost 23–42 at Oklahoma State-19Oklahoma StateWon 38–0 at South Carolina+38South CarolinaWon 38–21 vs. Auburn+17AuburnWon 53–6 vs. East Tennessee State+47East Tennessee …Lost 6–41 at LSU-35LSULost 35–37 at Kentucky-2KentuckyWon 26–14 vs. Alabama+12AlabamaWon 22–21 vs. No. 9 Arkansas+1No. 9 ArkansasWon 28–6 at Ole Miss+22Ole MissLost 14–24 vs. No. 1 Tennessee-10No. 1 TennesseeLost 11–38 vs. No. 20 Texas-27No. 20 Texas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsVanderbiltW 42–⁠074%
Sep 12atMemphisW 14–⁠661%
Sep 19atOklahoma StateL 23–⁠4250%
Sep 26atSouth CarolinaW 38–⁠050%
Oct 10vsAuburnW 38–⁠2160%
Oct 17vsEast Tennessee StateW 53–⁠690%
Oct 24atLSUL 6–⁠4141%
Nov 7atKentuckyL 35–⁠3748%
Nov 14vsAlabamaW 26–⁠1457%
Nov 21vs9ArkansasW 22–⁠2153%
Nov 26atOle MissW 28–⁠649%
Dec 5Bowls & playoffvs1TennesseeSEC Championship GameL 14–⁠2427%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs20TexasCotton BowlL 11–⁠3851%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas 38–⁠11 in the Cotton Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 25
  2. Wk 8: 24
  3. Wk 13: 25
  4. Wk 14: 23
  5. Wk 15: 25

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 1998.

SEC West champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Arkansas

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 23
Points
350–⁠256
Coach
Jackie Sherrill
Elo
1578 +45 this season
SP+ rating
8.9 No. 37 of 112; offense No. 55, defense No. 25
SRS
7.5 No. 34 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Lynn Amedee
Defensive coordinator
Joe Lee Dunn
Offense
Multiple
Defense
3–⁠3–⁠5

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 2James Johnson RBMiami Dolphins
Rd 2Reggie Kelly TEAtlanta Falcons
Rd 2Randy Thomas OGNew York Jets
Rd 6Dennis McKinley RBArizona Cardinals

All-SEC

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Eric AllenCAP-2
  • Randy ThomasOGAP-2
  • Jeff WalkerPAP-2
  • Kevin PrentissAPBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1998 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1998 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee8–⁠013–⁠01
Florida7–⁠110–⁠25
Georgia6–⁠29–⁠314
Arkansas6–⁠29–⁠316
Mississippi State6–⁠28–⁠5
Alabama4–⁠47–⁠5
Kentucky4–⁠47–⁠5
Ole Miss3–⁠57–⁠5
LSU2–⁠64–⁠7
Auburn1–⁠73–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠72–⁠9
South Carolina0–⁠81–⁠10

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