10 Biggest What Ifs in Mississippi State Sports History

2. What if Cam Newton chose MSU over Auburn?

In December of 2009, Cam Newton appeared to be headed to Mississippi State until Auburn suddenly popped up on his radar and just like that he heads for the plains.

Cam’s father, Cecil Newton, wanted $180,000 for his son to play at Mississippi State. MSU would not pay, so daddy made the decision for him. Cam wanted to play for Dan Mullen who had coached him previously at Florida.

We’re still unclear if the “money was too great” or if Cecil just didn’t get the right price for his “rented mule”…but Auburn is off the hook and has a national championship to show for whatever they did or didn’t do. Bottom line is…Cam Newton was an unbelievable talent, a runaway Heisman Trophy winner, who took an above average team and made them great.

That sounds a lot like the 2010 MSU football team that went 9-4 and narrowly lost to Cam Newton’s Auburn team. Would it have been Mississippi State instead of Auburn hoisting the 2010 BCS trophy if Cam had come to Starkville?

The biggest argument anyone could make against this would be regarding Nick Fairley’s impact on Auburn’s run. That’s undeniable, Fairley might very well have been the single best defensive player in the nation. But what about his supporting cast?

MSU’s defense gave up 5 points per game less than the Auburn D which had the services of Fairley. State’s D also had Fletcher Cox, Josh Boyd, Pernell McPhee, K.J. Wright, Chris White, Charles Mitchell, Johnthan Banks who were all drafted into the NFL.

It’s too bad MSU wasn’t able to have the services of Cam Newton for one year – it could have been a great ride. Even if we would have gone from 5 wins to 14, and back to 5 again. What if.