Cowbell Corner

Is 4-0 good enough or not for Mississippi State to join Top 25 rankings?

The Bulldogs haven't been ranked since the end of the 2022 season. Is an unbeaten non-conference schedule enough to end that streak?
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State Wide Receiver Anthony Evans III (#3) during the game between the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in Starkville, MS.
Mississippi State Wide Receiver Anthony Evans III (#3) during the game between the Northern Illinois Huskies and the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in Starkville, MS. | Mississippi State Athletics

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Mississippi State Bulldogs

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Mississippi State hasn’t been ranked in either the AP Top 25 Poll or the US LBM Coaches Poll since it ended the 2022 season ranked No. 25 in both polls.

That streak will continue for at least one more week.

The Bulldogs are 4-0 for the first time since 2014 and are fresh off a 38-10 win that wasn’t as pretty as the final score would indicate. They also have a good, quality win against then-No. 12 Arizona State.

But it’s not enough to overcome where it started in the minds of voters.

Mississippi State received the second-most votes of teams outside the AP Top 25 with 102. That's 33 more votes than it received last week.

Just to show how close the Bulldogs are, No. 25 BYU received 131 votes. Auburn received 122 votes and then its Mississippi State with its 102 votes.

If there had been just one or two more upsets of top 25 teams (Nebraska beating Michigan would've helped) then we'd be having a very different conversation.

The Bulldogs have a lot more work to do in the coaches' poll, receiving 57 votes. That's a 30 vote increase from last week, but is behind Louisville (67), Utah (99) and, the one that'll really anger Mississippi State fans, Arizona State (104).

It was always going to be questionable if a 4-0 record would be good enough to send Mississippi State into the top 25.

Fans may not like it, but preseason rankings are the starting point for voters and last season's results do factor into that.

The Bulldogs had to show they deserved a top 25 ranking and, as far as win/loss results are concerned, they've shown it.

However, only one of those four wins was a dominant win and that was against Alcorn State, an FSC school.

But against Southern Miss and Northern Illinois, the Bulldogs didn't have good first halves and led by three and four points at halftime before cruising to double-digit wins.

Against Arizona State, the Bulldogs had a great first half and maybe if that continued in the second half, they'd be ranked this week. But it didn't continue and they needed a heroic goal line stand just to give the offense a chance to win the game.

If Mississippi State had played four dominating games then, yes, it likely would've been ranked this week.

Fans may not like what's just been written, but any kind of win this week will send the Bulldogs into the land of ranked teams. Shoot, a close loss might be able to do it.

AP Top 25 Poll

  1. Ohio State 3-0
  2. Miami (FL) 4-0
  3. Penn State 3-0
  4. LSU 4-0
  5. Georgia 3-0
  6. Oregon 4-0
  7. Oklahoma 4-0
  8. Florida State 3-0
  9. Texas A&M 3-0
  10. Texas 3-1
  11. Indiana 4-0
  12. Texas Tech 4-0
  13. Ole Miss 4-0
  14. Iowa State 4-0
  15. Tennessee 3-1
  16. Georgia Tech 4-0
  17. Alabama 2-1
  18. Vanderbilt 4-0
  19. Michigan 3-1
  20. Missouri 4-0
  21. USC 4-0
  22. Notre Dame 1-2
  23. Illinois 3-1
  24. TCU 3-0
  25. BYU 3-0

Others receiving votes: Auburn 122, Mississippi St. 102, South Florida 77, Utah 45, Arizona St. 30, Memphis 23, Louisville 23, Maryland 6, UNLV 3, UCF 3, North Texas 2.

US LBM Coaches Poll

  1. Ohio State 3-0
  2. Penn State 3-0
  3. Georgia 3-0
  4. LSU 4-0
  5. Oregon 4-0
  6. Miami (FL) 4-0
  7. Texas 3-1
  8. Florida State 3-0
  9. Texas A&M 3-0
  10. Oklahoma 4-0
  11. Ole Miss 4-0
  12. Indiana 4-0
  13. Iowa State 4-0
  14. Texas Tech 4-0
  15. Tennessee 3-1
  16. Alabama 2-1
  17. Georgia Tech 4-0
  18. Michigan 3-1
  19. Missouri 4-0
  20. Vanderbilt 4-0
  21. Notre Dame 1-2
  22. USC 4-0
  23. Illinois 3-1
  24. BYU 3-0
  25. TCU 3-0

Others receiving votes: Arizona State 104; Utah 99; Louisville 67; Mississippi State 57; Memphis 55; Auburn 48; South Florida 32; Washington 19; Navy 17; Maryland 10; Kansas 6; Syracuse 4; Houston 4; UNLV 3; Tulane 3; Nebraska 3; North Texas 2; Iowa 1;

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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