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Mississippi State basketball faces multiple daunting stretches in 2025-2026 SEC slate

The Bulldogs were fortunate with their SEC matchups for the upcoming season, but the they weren't as lucky when it comes to avoiding long, difficult stretches of games.
ByAndrew Miller|
Mar 4, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Josh Hubbard (12) looks on during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Mar 4, 2025; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs guard Josh Hubbard (12) looks on during the first half against the Texas Longhorns at Humphrey Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

We're about three months out from the start of basketball season, and Mississippi State basketball's SEC slate is officially set. We already knew what draw the Bulldogs got in terms of home and away matchups for the 2025-2026 season, and it was quite favorable all things considered. Now, we've got the full schedule put together with dates for conference matchups.

Mississippi State gets pivotal three-game stretch in January

Between January 10 and the 17, State will play three incredibly challenging but incredibly important games in a row. First, the Bulldogs will travel to Lexington to face a Kentucky team expected to be one of the SEC's best in 2025-2026. Then, they get a pair of major rivalry games in Starkville, hosting always strong Alabama and then a rising Ole Miss program. That's a pretty rough three-game-stretch that the Bulldogs will need to play well in if they want to take the next step under Chris Jans.

There's no easing into the schedule either, as State will begin conference play at Texas against a Longhorns team expected to be much-improved under new HC Sean Miller. That said, the first half of the SEC slate features most of the teams projected to be in the bottom-half of the league. Of course, bottom-half SEC teams are still typically really good, but the month of January overall won't compare to what's in store the rest of the way for MSU...

Second-half of SEC slate is treacherous for Bulldogs

The second-half of Mississippi State's SEC schedule is going to be quite the gauntlet. Getting Arkansas, Tennessee, Ole Miss on the road, and Auburn in the span of a week and a half is as difficult as you can ask for. Fortunately for State, they get most of that stretch at home, but either way, making sure they're keeping pace in the league in the midst of that run will be a challenge.

Road trips to Tuscaloosa and Gainesville late in the regular season are not at all friendly either. For MSU's sake, they really need to be safely projected as a tournament team before this point.

That said, no one in the SEC has an easy schedule, as mentioned, the Bulldogs got a solid draw in terms of the matchups themselves. Getting long stretches of difficult games is part of life in this league, and at this point, the program has proven they can handle that.

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