Mississippi State Should Be New No. 1 After Upsetting Auburn
By Tim Letcher
@TimLetcher
Spruce Derden, USA TODAY SPORTS
If the brackets were released on Sunday, there is little doubt which team would be the number one seed in the College Football Playoff.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs raced out to a 21-0 lead on Saturday and beat the second-ranked Auburn Tigers 38-23 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. With the win, many experts think that the Bulldogs have a legitimate shot at being ranked number one in the country when the polls come out on Sunday.
In Saturday’s game, the defending SEC champion Tigers did themselves few favors, turning the ball over on each of their first two offensive plays, setting up Dak Prescott and the Bulldogs with prime field position. With the win, Mississippi State and head coach Dan Mullen completed a stretch where they beat three straight Top 10 opponents.
It started with a win, on the road, against the LSU Tigers. Last week, MSU topped the Texas A&M Aggies in Starkville. And Saturday, it was the second-ranked team in the country. The Bulldogs certainly deserve to be ranked at the top of the national polls, after completing a stretch like that.
Now, MSU gets a week off before hitting the road to face the resurgent Kentucky Wildcats on October 25. MSU does face two tough road games in November. The Bulldogs visit the Alabama Crimson Tide on November 15 and battle their arch rivals, the Ole Miss Rebels, on November 29. But there should never be any looking ahead in the SEC, because it could cost you.
No one knows what will happen the rest of the season, but if the College Football Playoff announcement came today, Mississippi State would be a deserving top seed.
Tim Letcher is a contributing writer for www.RantSports.com and a member of the Football Writers Association of America. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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