Southern Miss-Mississippi State Football Series Altered Amid SEC Scheduling Shift

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss football's future home-and-home series with Mississippi State is no more as the SEC's move to a nine-game conference schedule continues to reshape future nonconference slates.

The Golden Eagles were originally scheduled to host Mississippi State in Hattiesburg in 2030 before making the return trip to Starkville in 2031. However, that's not what Mississippi State's future schedule was showing on Tuesday.

Mississippi State's official website no longer lists the 2030 game in Hattiesburg. Meanwhile, the previously scheduled 2031 matchup in Starkville has been moved up two years to Sept. 15, 2029 (H/T Patrick McGee). Southern Miss will lose the home portion of what was initially supposed to be a home-and-home series between the two in-state rivals.

This schedule adjustment didn’t come entirely out of nowhere, either.

Southern Miss athletic director Jeremy McClain had previously alluded to the likelihood of future scheduling changes stemming from the SEC's transition from eight to nine conference games, and on Tuesday, he confirmed the cancellation of Southern Miss and Mississippi State’s home-and-home series.

Confirmed from Jeremy McClain: the home and home between Southern Miss and Mississippi State is no more.

Now just a single game in Starkville in 2029. https://t.co/J7tooFhdJW
— Scott Watkins (@scottwatkinsTU) August 25, 2026

Adding another league game leaves SEC programs with one fewer non-conference date to work with each season, forcing schools to alter previous scheduling deals if they want to guarantee themselves a certain number of home games.

This is a disappointing development for the Southern Miss football program and Hattiesburg in general, as the crowds have always been outstanding when the Golden Eagles and Bulldogs have met at The Rock. Not to mention, all the local businesses benefit greatly from those matchups as well.

The attendance record for newly renamed Renasant Stadium was set on Sept. 5, 2015, when Southern Miss and Mississippi State played in front of a rowdy crowd of 36,641 people. Overall, the Bulldogs lead the all-time series against the Golden Eagles in football, 19-12-1, and have won the last seven meetings.

Given the SEC's new conference schedule setup, it's going to make it increasingly hard for Mississippi State to play in Hattiesburg again anytime soon. Regardless, the two programs are still on track to meet in Starkville in the near future to continue the football rivalry. It's just not as nice a setup for the Golden Eagles as it would have been initially.

Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more Golden Eagles football coverage as preparations for the season opener against Alcorn State begin this week.

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