Measuring the Gap Between Mississippi State and Ole Miss

Nov 28, 2015; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs mascot Bully runs onto the field before the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi won 38-27. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

Mississippi State lost the battle for football supremacy in the state to Ole Miss in 2015, but just how much of a gap between the two programs is there?

If you are going to be the best team in the SEC West, you need to be the best team in your state first. You obviously can’t be the best team in your division if there is a team in the same state as you that is also better than you.

The Ole Miss Rebels can claim that right in 2015. The Rebels had two more wins in Conference play, one more win overall, and a win in the Egg Bowl. Ole Miss was the better team in 2015. But are Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss light years ahead of Dan Mullen and the Bulldogs?

Absolutely not.

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If you’re a Mississippi State fan who has family and friends who cheer for Ole Miss, the last five or six weeks haven’t been the most fun time in your life. We’ve already established Ole Miss had the better year in football, but the Rebels win in the Sugar Bowl over Oklahoma State has sent many of their fans into overdrive with self congratulatory pats on the back.

In the process, many Ole Miss fans believe they have separated themselves from Mississippi State. The conversations on various social media platforms have revolved around leaving us poor bull puppies in the dust. If you’ve tried to make any proclamations about how happy you are with the success of the Bulldogs on the football field, someone likely chimes in with an Egg Bowl score or picture of the Sugar Bowl trophy.

While the last two contests are the ones freshest in our memories, it’s easy to forget the Egg Bowl was played as a virtual play in game for the Sugar Bowl. Both teams entered the Egg Bowl with 8-3 records, and either team would have found themselves in New Orleans on New Year’s Day with a win in Starkville that night.

Ole Miss finished the season with ten wins, but Mississippi State still had nine wins. The separation is minimal. and if you go back over the last two seasons, the teams have identical records.

The biggest reason the teams aren’t as separated as much as many might think is both coaches have two vastly different flaws, but are equally devastating when it comes to both programs having the chance to take the step forward necessary to become SEC champions.

Dan Mullen has proven he can win consistently in the SEC. He just hasn’t proven he can beat the best of the best to get the Bulldogs to play for an SEC championship. In the seven losses the Bulldogs have suffered over the last two years, the records of the teams Mississippi State has lost to is a combined 61-18. Mississippi State will never be able to be the best in the SEC until they learn to beat those teams at the top of the conference.

Hugh Freeze has proven he can slay giants. Two years with wins over Alabama shows Freeze can motivate his team to beat the best of the best. But his teams get complacent when they have reached the top of the mountain. Losses in 2014 to an 8-5 LSU, 8-5 Auburn, and 7-6 Arkansas are head scratching at best. In 2015, the loss to Florida could be understandable since the Gators were a different team with Grier at quarterback, but a loss to a Memphis team that finished 9-4 was inexcusable for an SEC team. The loss to 7-5 Arkansas could be explained away by a fluke play, but playing a lesser team so closely allowed the possibility for such a fluke play to occur. If the Rebels want to take the next step, Freeze has to prove he can keep his team motivated for every opponent on the schedule, not just the Alabamas of the world.

There is no doubt things are pointing in favor of Ole Miss when it comes to football supremacy in the state of Mississippi. With the level Hugh Freeze recruits at, it’s likely Freeze will win more Egg Bowls than he loses unless Dan Mullen can figure out a way to equal Freeze’s exploits on the recruiting trail. But it isn’t the first time one team has had all the marbles.

In 2003, Ole Miss was coming off one of their best seasons ever, and Mississippi State was in the middle of a terrible stretch of football. The very next season, the Rebels would join the Bulldogs at the bottom of the SEC cellar and the two would just trade places for the next few years.

In 2008, Mississippi State was terrible and an awful season was punctuated with an embarrassing loss to Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. The gap between the two programs looked as wide as it ever has. The next three seasons saw the Bulldogs gain the upper hand in the state convincingly.

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In 2012, the Bulldogs lost the convincing lead. Ole Miss won the Egg Bowl to stem the tide Mississippi State had been on and even things out in the back and forth rivalry.

In 2014 and 2015, Ole Miss has the edge. If there is one thing this series has shown us, holding that edge isn’t an easy proposition.

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