Mississippi State Receives Four Votes in AP Top 25

The Bulldogs were awarded four votes in the latest AP Top 25 rankings.

Despite going a few weeks without playing any football, Mississippi State received four votes in the latest AP Top 25 poll. 

The Bulldogs finished the regular season 7-5 and in fifth-place in the SEC West. Although their record was not the best, MSU had four quality wins against teams that are currently in the rankings or were previously ranked. 

The first of these victories came on Sept. 11 in the second game of the season. Mississippi State held off NC State 24-10 thanks to an outstanding defensive performance by the Bulldogs. Although the Wolfpack was not ranked at the time, they spent the majority of the latter part of the season in the AP Top 25 and the CFP rankings. They finished the regular season at No. 18 in the AP poll. 

State also defeated Texas A&M 26-22 on Oct. 2. At the time, the Aggies were ranked No. 15 in the AP Poll but had previously been ranked as high as No. 5. The following weekend, Texas A&M became the only team to defeat Alabama during the regular season.

On Oct. 30, the Bulldogs throttled the No. 12 Kentucky Wildcats behind quarterback Will Rogers' history-making performance. The Bulldogs fell behind by 10 points early but used a momentous third quarter to claim the 31-17 victory.

The most memorable game of the year came when MSU pulled off the greatest comeback in school history against the No. 17 Auburn Tigers. Down 28-3 near the end of the second quarter, the Bulldogs scored 40 unanswered points to secure the 43-34 victory and shock the Tigers. 

These victories alone were enough to give Mississippi State some credit in the AP Top 25. Hopefully, the Bulldogs will find themselves even higher in the polls once next season gets underway.

Here are the full AP Top 25 rankings, with the number of first-place votes in parenthesis.

1. Alabama (50)

2. Michigan (9)

3. Georgia

4. Cincinnati (3)

5. Notre Dame

6. Baylor

7. Ohio State

8. Ole Miss

9. Oklahoma State

10. Utah

11. Michigan State

12. BYU

13. Pitt

14. Oklahoma

15. Oregon

16. Louisiana

17. Iowa

18. NC State

19. Clemson

20. Wake Forest

21. Houston

22. Arkansas

23. Texas A&M

24. UTSA

25. Kentucky 

Others receiving votes: Utah State 109, Wisconsin 66, San Diego State 63, Minnesota 38, Purdue 36, Louisiana Tech 11, Appalachian State 9, Army 7, Mississippi State 4, Penn State 4, Northern Illinois 1