15 Reasons To Be Excited For The 2018 Mississippi State Football Season
By Ethan Lee
![STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 21: Garrett Johnson #9 of the Kentucky Wildcats catches a pass as Maurice Smitherman #31 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs tackles him during the first half of a NCAA football game at Davis Wade Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) STARKVILLE, MS - OCTOBER 21: Garrett Johnson #9 of the Kentucky Wildcats catches a pass as Maurice Smitherman #31 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs tackles him during the first half of a NCAA football game at Davis Wade Stadium on October 21, 2017 in Starkville, Mississippi. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/8199eddcea206f7fc3b4e0ab9bd22741c998e6d63f3b5b49630581c7eeb4a1d2.jpg)
For The Most Part, This Is A Beneficial Schedule For The Mississippi State Football Team
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that the Mississippi State football team has an easy schedule this season. They simply don’t. There’s nothing easy about playing in the Southeastern Conference and there’s nothing easy about being in the SEC West. On top of that, MSU has to go to Manhattan, Kansas to play the Kansas State Wildcats.
But, all things considered, fans have to be at least a little excited with what MSU’s schedule looks like at the moment.
Before Mississippi State takes off to Kansas to take on Kansas State, the Bulldogs host Stephen F. Austin. Then there’s that trip to battle the Wildcats. MSU returns home to host Louisiana-Lafayette and then travels to take on more Wildcats, this time in Kentucky. State’s final game in September is against Florida.
That’s a bit of traveling to start the year, but it comes against manageable opponents. MSU could realistically find itself at 5-0 to start the season.
There’s only three games in the month of October but they come against Auburn, LSU, and A&M in that order. Auburn comes to Starkville after the Bulldogs play Florida, but then MSU gets a bye week. State will travel to Baton Rouge for LSU, but then return back to play A&M in Davis Wade Stadium.
And that brings up the closing stretch of the season. Homecoming against La Tech, a trip to Alabama, hosting Arkansas, and then a trip to Oxford for the Egg Bowl.
No, this won’t be an easy schedule, but it is more manageable than many recent ones that MSU has gone through. State could see itself realistically winning 9 or more regular season games with this slate.