The positives and negatives for Mississippi State football's 2020 schedule

By now you've surely seen it. Mississippi State's 2020 football schedule was revealed on Monday and the Bulldogs now know the task ahead of them in the first year of the head coach Mike Leach era.

If you've been under a rock for the last few hours, let's have a quick recap. Here's MSU's 2020 slate:

September 26 - at LSU (in Baton Rouge, La.)
October 3 - vs. Arkansas (in Starkville, Miss.)
October 10 - at Kentucky (in Lexington, Ky.)
October 17 - vs. Texas A&M (in Starkville, Miss.)
October 24 - OPEN DATE
October 31 - at Alabama (in Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
November 7 - vs. Vanderbilt (in Starkville, Miss.)
November 14 - vs. Auburn (in Starkville, Miss.)
November 21 - at Georgia (in Athens, Ga.)
November 28 - at Ole Miss (in Oxford, Miss.)
December 5 - vs. Missouri (in Starkville, Miss.)
December 12 - OPEN DATE
December 19 - SEC Championship Game (at Atlanta, Ga.)

No matter how you shake it, that's a tough schedule. That said, if you're playing a 10-game, SEC-only slate, it was going to be difficult no matter what.

Still, it's not all bad news for the Bulldogs. Here are some positives (and negatives) of how the 2020 schedule has turned out for Mississippi State:

Positive: There's a schedule. Look, it wasn't all that long ago that none of us were sure there'd be a season. To be fair, until the ball is kicked off on September 26, there's still that chance things go off the rails. But to just have a schedule is good news in and of itself.

Negative: The schedule really couldn't get much tougher. About the only thing you could do to create a more difficult 10-game SEC slate for MSU would be to replace Vanderbilt with Florida. It's absurd how tough this schedule is. You can honestly say 30 percent of it comes against legit national championship contenders (LSU, Alabama and Georgia). And oh, by the way....

Negative: All three of those games against said national title contenders are on the road. That's just brutal. Add in that State's other two road games are against what's expected to be a good Kentucky team, as well as against Ole Miss – a game that's always a toss-up – and it's totally reasonable to say MSU would probably be incredibly satisfied to go just 2-3 on the road. In fact, the Bulldogs would likely be thrilled with that.

Positive: If you're going to play this kind of road schedule though, this is certainly the year to do it. Yeah, you'd like your chances better against LSU and Bama and Georgia and the like at home, but you've got to remember, those teams are likely to have much less of a homefield advantage this season than any year before. No firm decisions have been made on fan attendance in the SEC as of yet, but it's tough to imagine full houses anywhere. So without a packed stadium, Death Valley down in Baton Rouge isn't quite as intimidating. A half full or less Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa seems more manageable that a venue full of fans screaming, 'Roll Tide'. Those games will still be uphill climbs for Mississippi State, but hey, the Bulldogs will take anything they can get in their favor for those contests.

Positive: Speaking of having things in your favor, if Mississippi State is going to have a chance to upset LSU, it sure seems like playing the Tigers in Week 1 is the best possible scenario. Remember the defending national champs have lost Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Joe Burrow. Offensive mastermind Joe Brady is no longer in the fold as a coach with LSU. It's conceivable there will be a figuring-things-out period for the Tigers. Now LSU will still be the heavy favorite, but the Bulldogs might have a puncher's chance by getting to the Tigers before they can get rolling.

Negative: If State doesn't upset LSU, there's a chance it could be the start to a rough first half of the schedule. It's not outside the realm of possibility MSU could get off to something like a 1-4 start. The Bulldogs are likely underdogs in at least three of the first five games (at LSU, vs. Texas A&M and at Alabama). It'll be no easy task to win in Kentucky either. So if State gets to the midway point with only a win over Arkansas, it wouldn't be the most surprising thing in the world.

Positive: The back half of the schedule, and the five-game home slate, are incredibly manageable. The Bulldogs should be favored to win at least three of their five home games (vs. Arkansas, vs. Vanderbilt and vs. Missouri). Then there's also the home tilts against Texas A&M and Auburn. Right now, it'd be considered an upset if the Bulldogs won either of those games, but remember that State has had a good deal of success against the Aggies and Tigers in recent years, especially in Starkville. And as for the last half of the schedule as a whole, the only game in that five-game stretch that seems like it might be too tall of a task for MSU is the contest at Georgia (and perhaps the home game against Auburn depending on your opinion of the Tigers).

Positive: A path to a .500 season is there and if Mississippi State can get to it, then the Leach era of Bulldog football is off and running. On paper, MSU should handle Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Missouri. Again, on paper, State probably loses at LSU, at Alabama and at Georgia. That leaves four games as toss-ups – at Kentucky, vs. Texas A&M, vs. Auburn and at Ole Miss. If the Bulldogs can go 2-2 in the toss-ups, there's your .500 record. And if that happens, given the unique circumstances of the last few months and the difficult schedule, year one of Leach at Mississippi State would have to be considered a major success.

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