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Once the top-ranked team in the country, the Mississippi State Bulldogs saw all their hopes and dreams for the 2014 college football season officially fall apart Saturday in a 31-17 at arch-rival Mississippi in the Egg Bowl. The Bulldogs, who fell from the top spot when they lost to eventual SEC West champion Alabama, now sit 10-2 and while that would be a great record for any MSU team in any year, it surely feels like a disappointment for a club that even after it lost to the Crimson Tide, still held the fourth spot in the college football playoff rankings.
Now, without even the SEC Championship Game to look forward to (Alabama plays Missouri in that game next Saturday), the Bulldogs have some time to lick their wounds and begin looking ahead to whatever bowl they may wind up in. Even if there’s some carnage this coming Saturday in the various conference championship games (save for the Big 12, which doesn’t have one), there’s no chance now that Mississippi State ends up in the four-team national playoffs. The top three teams — Oregon, Alabama and Florida State — all solidified their positions with wins on Saturday, while several other teams behind the Bulldogs, notably TCU, Arizona, Georgia Tech and Ohio State, also won to put themselves in a position to possibly jump the Bulldogs when the new rankings are released Tuesday night.
So where does that leave Mississippi State? Even if Missouri upsets Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, it doesn’t seem likely that the Bulldogs will end up in one of the big six bowls to be played on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The most likely destination then for Mississippi State and its fans would be the Outback Bowl. That would be some consolation for the Bulldogs because even though it’s not one of the big six (Orange, Peach, Fiesta, Rose, Sugar, Cotton), it is played New Year’s Day.
Mississippi State’s most likely opponent in that game would be the Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans finished second in the Big 10‘s East Division behind Ohio State, and at 10-2, offer a formidable challenge to Mississippi State. While in name only, Mississippi State vs. Michigan State might not be an eye-popping matchup, should that be the game we get in the Outback Bowl. It would be one worth watching for fans. More importantly, it would give the Bulldogs one final chance to prove how good a team they really worse this year.
Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.
