Can Gary Henderson Guide Mississippi State Baseball To Win College World Series?

Do Gary Henderson and the Mississippi State baseball team have a shot at winning it all in Omaha?

Will this be the year that the Mississippi State baseball team wins it all?

The Bulldogs have made it into the College World Series a total of 10 times. That’s including this season. Gary Henderson has helped make sure that this Mississippi State baseball season wouldn’t be wasted. Instead, it turned into something truly spectacular.

But can it be even more than that? Can the Bulldogs make it all the way to the final championship series and play for a national title?

For those that are unaware, Mississippi State University has never won a team national title. But the Bulldogs have come painstakingly and heartbreakingly close in recent years. Specifically, over the past five years.

Going back in time to 2013, a team from Mississippi State has competed for a national title three times. Mississippi State baseball did so back in 2013 and Vic Schaefer’s women’s basketball team played for it twice in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018.

Three national championship appearances in five years is pretty good. And it’s not inherently a bad thing that the Mississippi State Bulldogs have come close. However, it’s an incredibly frustrating thing that they just haven’t gotten there yet.

Which brings me back to the original question at hand:

Can this Mississippi State baseball team win the national title?

Gary Henderson has done a lot with this team of Mississippi State Bulldogs. This is the furthest that he has ever gotten in his coaching career and now he’s primed to compete against the best teams and coaches in the nation. And he’s done it all with a team that is regularly starting four freshmen and had to hop every hurdle imaginable.

Mississippi State baseball in 2018 is a pretty good feel-good story.

But they’re not the little engine that could. Though the Bulldogs haven’t won it all, Mississippi State baseball is a true college baseball blue blood. This is a team that has been to Omaha 10 times, has competed for a national title, and has produced plenty of Major League Baseball talent.

Still, Mississippi State is an underdog in this pool of talent that has accumulated in Omaha, Nebraska.

On MSU’s side of the bracket, one can find North Carolina and Oregon State. On the other side of Omaha sits the Florida Gators, Arkansas Razorbacks, Texas Tech Red Raiders, and Texas Longhorns. All of these teams have at least 40 wins this season in this moment. That leaves two other teams that don’t have at least 40 wins right now.

The Washington Huskies and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Four teams have at least 44 wins. Oregon State leads the way with 49 wins so far while the Florida Gators aren’t too far behind with 47. Texas Tech and Arkansas each have 44 wins at the moment.

Will Mississippi State baseball be able to clear these opponents?

This is a difficult thing to ask anyone to do. But, MSU has set a precedent for beating powerful teams this season. Right now, after defeating Florida State in the Tallahassee Regional, the Mississippi State baseball team is 10-1 against top 10 teams in 2018.

That’s a sweep of Arkansas, Florida, and beating Ole Miss three times in four attempts. Add in a victory over Florida State and that brings you out to a record of 10-1.

Now, outside of the Washington Huskies, every team that the Mississippi State Bulldogs can face up there in Omaha, Nebraska came into the postseason as a highly ranked team. On the other side of the bracket sits Arkansas and Florida, two teams that MSU is 6-0 against.

Some might shrink under the pressure of having to play against this sort of competition and under these circumstances. Mississippi State has thrived in these situations all year.

So, can the Mississippi State baseball team win the College World Series this year? I’ve found myself having a hard time predicting just exactly what these Bulldogs will do. Nothing here at this point will come easy to them. There’s plenty of tough tasks up ahead for Mississippi State. Still, the Bulldogs have earned their chance. They’ve earned their opportunity. Now, they want to do something with it.