Mississippi State football drops in FPI rankings after loss to LSU Tigers

Sep 16, 2023; Starkville, Mississippi, USA;Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers (2) turns to hand the ball off to wide receiver Zavion Thomas (1) against the LSU Tigers during the second quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 16, 2023; Starkville, Mississippi, USA;Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Will Rogers (2) turns to hand the ball off to wide receiver Zavion Thomas (1) against the LSU Tigers during the second quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

Mississippi State football is falling in ESPN’s FPI rankings after the Bulldogs were humbled at home against the LSU Tigers.

Following Saturday afternoon’s home loss to the LSU Tigers, Zach Arnett’s Mississippi State football team has fallen a notable amount in ESPN’s FPI rankings. The Tigers were able to steamroll the Bulldogs en route to a 41-14 victory. Which, you know, great for LSU. Bad for Mississippi State.

And now the Bulldogs are dropping in ESPN’s FPI rankings.

That’s no shocker given how State played on Saturday. It didn’t seem like Miss. State could really do anything right against the Tigers.

LSU wasted no time imposing its will and the Tigers were leading the Bulldogs 17-0 by the time that the first quarter had wrapped up. Mississippi State’s offensive line wasn’t able to keep Will Rogers upright and the Bulldogs’ offense never really got moving.

And if you combine that with the fact that Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers were surgical and effortlessly handled the Miss. State secondary, then you get a lopsided 41-14 loss for the Bulldogs.

Mississippi State football falls in ESPN FPI rankings after being humbled at home by LSU Tigers

Because of how ugly of a loss MSU endured on Saturday, the Bulldogs ended up dropping 10 spots in the latest ESPN FPI rankings. Now 2-1 on the year and 1-1 in SEC play, MSU is ranked one spot above the Maryland Terrapins and behind the Cincinnati Bearcats.

If you filter things down to the SEC, Mississippi State is now ranked 10th in the conference. And that’s not a great spot to be.

Here’s what the SEC’s ESPN FPI rankings look like right now:

  1. Georgia Bulldogs
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide
  3. LSU Tigers
  4. Ole Miss Rebels
  5. Texas A&M Aggies
  6. Tennessee Volunteers
  7. Florida Gators
  8. Auburn Tigers
  9. South Carolina Gamecocks
  10. Mississippi State Bulldogs
  11. Kentucky Wildcats
  12. Missouri Tigers
  13. Arkansas Razorbacks
  14. Vanderbilt Commodores

That’s bad! Very bad! Mississippi State has one of the worst offenses in the SEC right now. So, here’s to hoping that Zach Arnett, Kevin Barbay, and Matt Brock are able to steer the Bulldogs out of this mess and get MSU moving forward once again.