Imagining five new team names for Mississippi State

Before we even begin this exercise, let's start by emphasizing this point – MISSISSIPPI STATE IS NOT CHANGING ITS NAME AND WILL PROBABLY FOREVER BE THE BULLDOGS. Okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way...

Let's pretend – you know, like when we were kids in the backyard pretending to be Joe Montana or Ken Griffey, Jr. or your athlete of choice.

As you probably know, teams like the NFL's Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians are examining possible name changes. Now MSU's nickname isn't controversial whatsoever but let's imagine, for whatever reason, Mississippi State decided to no longer be the Bulldogs. What new nicknames would make sense? Here are five possibilities:

– Mississippi State Mississippians

Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue does it? Yeah, it's kind of a mouthful. But, let's not forget all those billboards MSU has put up through the years proclaiming, 'This is Our State'. What better way for this to truly be MSU's state than to actually call its athletes the Mississippians? There is some precedent here. After all, Houston's NFL franchise is the Texans. So why not fully embrace the claim of ownership of the Magnolia State?

– Mississippi State Aggies

Here's a dig back into history. When MSU first started playing sports as Mississippi A&M, the school was known as the Aggies. If you had to change, why not go back to the beginning? It pays homage to the school's agricultural roots, as well as the foundation of its athletic programs. A big knock here is that the Southeastern Conference now has another set of Aggies in it with Texas A&M. Then again though, there's another bunch of Bulldogs too, so that really wouldn't be an issue.

– Mississippi State Jacks

I mean, who is more synonymous with Mississippi State athletics than Jack Cristil and his iconic voice right? Cristil's calls are the soundtrack of many of your lives. So if you're searching for a new name for MSU sports, you could at least put the Jacks on the table. If it happened, it'd probably make it all the more special for MSU on the occasions it wraps games in maroon and white.

– Mississippi State Clang

It's the sound everyone around the nation associates with Mississippi State. Even MSU fans leave Starkville with ringing still in their ears from the cowbells clanging. It'd make a ton of sense to name the school's athletic teams after the school's most well-known tradition. The problem here might be it just doesn't sound right. The Clang sounds more like the next pandemic than a sports team. But hey, it's a thought, even if not a great one.

– Mississippi State Maroons

This might perhaps be the perfect alternative if MSU ever made a team-name switch. Like Aggies, it checks the box of honoring the past as then-Mississippi State College was known as the Maroons starting in the 1930s. It's also pretty original. There aren't any other Maroons in the SEC or around the college athletics landscape. If someone heard the name Maroons, it'd almost assuredly be Mississippi State on his or her mind. Plus, it just sounds kind of cool.

So which of these five is your favorite, or do you have ideas of your own? Drop a comment below and let's talk about it.