SEC Champions! Mississippi State soccer captures program's first title

It's a good era of Mississippi State athletics. Yes, there's been recent concerns about Bulldog football and baseball, but in terms of top to bottom success across all sports, the MSU athletic department as never been in better shape.

That became even more true on Sunday night when one Bulldog program took home the SEC crown for the first time ever.

Mississippi State soccer wins 2024 Regular Season SEC Championship

Mississippi State soccer is in the midst of the best season in program history. They've already set a program record for regular season wins and SEC wins, and they have reached the highest ranking in program history at #3 in the country.

The Bulldogs made even more history on Sunday night. With a 2-0 victory over Texas A&M, Mississippi State captured the first SEC Championship in its 30-year history.

Mississippi State, now a dominant 15-1 on the season, are a perfect 9-0 in SEC play, the only undefeated SEC team. The Bulldogs still have one league game left to play, a rescheduled trip to South Carolina, but with a head-to-head victory over 2nd-place Arkansas (who has also tied a match this season), defeating the Aggies Sunday night secured an outright championship for Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs, led by sixth-year head coach James Armstrong, have been nothing short of dominant on the defensive side of the ball. They have allowed just three goals on the season. That's not per match or even in SEC play. Three total goals allowed across their 16 matches played this season, two of which coming in their lone loss to #2 Wake Forest. Only one goal was allowed in SEC play. 14 of their 16 opponents were shutout. They are far and away the best defensive team in the country.

Bulldogs are in position to be one of the highest-seeded teams for NCAA Tournament

Mississippi State soccer has been building towards this moment. The Bulldogs have seen steady improvement under James Armstrong. Last season, State finished 2nd in the now-defunct SEC West and reached the semifinals of the SEC Tournament for the first time ever. They've hosted first round NCAA Tournament matches each of the last two seasons, and in 2023, they made a trip to the Sweet 16.

While State is still looking to close out an undefeated SEC regular season and then take home the SEC Tournament title, the Bulldogs have assured that they will earn their highest NCAA Tournament seed in program history. And there's a chance they could take earn on of the highest seeds in the country.

Earlier this month, the NCAA Women's Soccer Committee unveiled their Top-16 teams, which would be the 16 highest-seeded teams in the tournament. Mississippi State checked in as the #4 overall seed. If that were to hold, the Bulldogs would have homefield advantage through the Elite 8 of the tournament.

Obviously, there's still work to be done to assure that happens, and simply having that seed would not guarantee anything in terms of advancing in the postseason. But MSU is in position to do something really special. The Bulldogs are a legitimate national championship contender.