Egg Bowl Rivalry is Going to Lose its Luster if MSU Doesn’t do Something About it
Mississippi State lost to Ole Miss in basketball on Wednesday night. The rivalry is getting a bit stale because the Bulldogs aren’t winning.
Last night Stefan Moody exploded for 43 points in a 86-78 win for Ole Miss. It evened the season series with MSU as the Dawgs won in Starkville….when the Rebels didn’t have Stefan Moody. It kind of tarnishes the one win we’ve had in the big three sports since the 2013-14 academic year when their best player was out and we see what he does against us when playing.
But, I guess you could say similar things about Malik Newman since he put up 25 points vs. OM in Starkville but had just three in a reserve role last night due to injury.
At any rate, State is not beating Ole Miss with the regularity that’s needed to fuel a rivalry. It’s hard to say this, but it’s the truth – it’s pretty one-sided right now.
Two years ago at this time the rivalry was at it’s apex. Having just come off a thrilling Egg Bowl win, the basketball season series was tied as both teams faced each other in the SEC Tournament – which OM won. Then baseball featured a 2-2 split including a game which broke the on-campus regular season attendance record.
Throughout Regional play in 2014, excitement was building about what looked to be an “Egg Bowl Super Regional” in Oxford. My head was spinning at the level of excitement that would bring. To top things off, it would be solely up to MSU to continue O.M.A.H.A. But alas, the Dawgs blew at 2-0 start to the Lafayette, LA Regional and did not advance, while the Rebels moved on to the College World Series – eventually making the semifinals.
Fast forward to the fall and it was MSU and Ole Miss everywhere in October as both teams were ranked in the top three. Ultimately it was Mississippi State who garnered the most attention with five weeks at No. 1 and vaulted to the top selling merchandise brand in America.
Then came the Egg Bowl.
Related Story: Never Congratulate Ole Miss on Winning the Egg Bowl
Since then it’s been a down-hill slide in the rivalry and almost everything among the big three sports. An Orange Bowl loss, another terrible basketball season which resulted in the firing of Rick Ray and one of the top five worst baseball seasons in school history. To make matters worse, OM completed a sweep of MSU in 2014-15: 7-0 in those sports. Embarrassing.
The 2015-16 academic year hasn’t fared much better. While the football team did complete a historically good 9-4 season, they lost in the Egg Bowl and most other big games leaving State fans somewhat bitter about the season. Basketball has been a disappointment, although better than the Rick Ray era. We’ll have to see about baseball this spring…
State is 1-9 in their last 10 games vs. Ole Miss in the big three sports. Last night there were empty seats all over the Pavilion – a new arena – for a rivalry game. I know OM says LSU is their biggest rival and for most of them that’s not true, but if State doesn’t start evening things out it will be. And it will be just MSU fans at the bottom of the hill wanting to beat OM while they sip hotty toddies with their noses in the sky because they are on top.
There are so many exciting things happening at State, but it hasn’t translated to wins on the field. Most of everything has been off the field: Ben Howland hired, top 10 basketball recruiting class, three top 10 recruiting classes in baseball, top 20 class in 2015 in football. Plans for a new baseball stadium.
That’s all great, but we need to win. It starts by beating Ole Miss.
Even in a period of sustained football excellence only rivaled by the 1940s and late 1990s, we are shaking our heads over inexplicable Egg Bowl losses. The football program appears to be the best thing we have going for us, but unfortunately their path to success is in the toughest division in perhaps the history of college football.
Related Story: Measuring the Gap Between MSU and OM
Just yesterday Scott Stricklin was awarded the Athletics Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. I am a huge Scott Stricklin fan and I think he’s done a wonderful job as A.D., but with results like we’ve seen in our biggest sports, and being dominated by OM like we have, now is not the time for this award. I understand strides in women’s athletics such as basketball and softball have been tremendous, but those just don’t pay the bills.
We’ve yet to see any type of announcement on the status of the new Dudy Noble Field. That can only be a bad thing at this point – one and a half years after the proposal and renderings. We only have hope for what Ben Howland can do. And the greatest player to ever wear the maroon and white on the gridiron just walked out the door and we have no championship banner to hang from his time here.
It’s an odd time for Stricklin to be named the best athletic director in the country by his peers. I don’t doubt that he is worthy of the award from the standpoint of doing the best he can with what he can control. But at some point you have to win, and at least win your state.
MSU must get back to beating Ole Miss and restore the rivalry before they leave us behind.