MWN Twitter Mailbag

Oct 4, 2014; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs fans get ready for the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Decided to start something new here on Maroon and White Nation. Once a week, I will take your questions and try to answer them as best I can. If you want to submit one, just hit me up on Twitter @JustinStrawnMWN. So let’s get to it!

I expect this one to be close. Auburn has more proven commodities on it than either Texas A&M or LSU did. There is lots of talent on both of those squads, but they are both still going through some growing pains. That isn’t the case with Auburn. These guys have been there and put through the fire. Playing on the road in front of a hostile environment won’t bother these guys one bit.

By asking this, you want me to make some sense of Dan Mullen and how he updates injuries and depth charts. You’d have better luck reading tea leaves and getting a good answer. I think he will, but that is very much a guess. The last I saw, he was on the depth chart for this week. That is at least encouraging. Remember, last year before the Egg Bowl he said Tyler Russell was good to go (or something like that) and Russell showed up in a sling. He said Dak Prescott was out, and Dak played the 4th quarter. Your guess is as good as mine.

UPDATE: Jameon Lewis tweeted this shortly after I finished typing this post:

I would assume that means he is playing, but still, you just never know.

To answer this, let’s go straight to the horse’s mouth.  On the College Football Playoff’s web site, they have this to say:

"The selection committee will choose the four teams for the playoff based on strength of schedule, head-head results, comparison of results against common opponents, championships won and other factors."

I take this to mean that it is just going to be the four teams they think are best. They have said they are going to pick the four BEST teams, and not necessarily the four MOST DESERVING teams. I also interpret that to mean that the non Power 5 conferences are going to have a really hard time getting invited to the party.

Well, the rumor has been Faith Hill. Then I just saw this tweet come across TweetDeck when I was typing this:

So who really knows. Here is what I will say. ESPN has been doing this for a long time. They are going to get someone that most of the fans who are in attendance (aka students) will love and get excited about. They will also find someone who embraces everything Mississippi State is about. They will get this right. A lot of people are worried about it, but there really isn’t any need to be.

Amazing the difference that a year makes. One year ago a lot of us were wondering if Dan Mullen would get fired if the Bulldogs went 4-8. Now we are worried that he is going to bolt for bigger, not necessarily greener, pastures. So are we in danger of losing him? Yes. How serious danger is it? That’s probably the better question.

Mullen has not hesitated to say that this squad is the best he has had since he got to Starkville in 2009. So how we end this year will play a large part in if he leaves. If Mississippi State ends the year at 9-3 or 10-2, if he thinks he can’t build a team better than this one to get to 11-1 or 12-0 to win an SEC Championship, he might just leave. If he thinks he can build a team better than this one, I think he stays.

If the Bulldogs find themselves in the College Football Playoff this year, why would he leave? Mississippi State will have proven that it can compete, and Mullen would forever have a much longer leash in Starkville than any other place he went. They might be able to pay him a little bit more, but I don’t think it would be the difference in him leaving or staying. This is all about if Mullen can build a championship program in Starkville. Some think that the Bulldogs’ year is the culmination of events that has created a perfect storm: veteran players who are perfect fits for Dan Mullen’s system. They may be right, but I think Mullen is starting to hit his stride, and while climbing the rankings to number 3 in the country can’t be expected every year, don’t be surprised if Mullen pulls this off at Mississippi State more often should he decide not to leave.

How many wins we get this year will be important. Nine or ten might tempt him to leave, eleven or twelve might convince him that there really isn’t any point in leaving. Time will only tell.