Mississippi State Bulldogs

This is the page for Mississippi State Athletics. For the article about the university, see Mississippi State University.

Mississippi State Bulldogs
University	Mississippi State University
Conference(s)	Southeastern Conference
NCAA	Division I
Athletics director	Scott Stricklin
Location	Starkville, MS
Varsity teams	16
Football stadium	Davis Wade Stadium
Basketball arena	Humphrey Coliseum
Baseball stadium	Dudy Noble Field
Mascot	Bully
Nickname	Bulldogs (Dawgs)
Fight song	Hail State
Colors	Maroon and White
Homepage	www.mstateathletics.com

The Mississippi State Bulldogs are the athletic teams of Mississippi State University. They participate in NCAA's Division I in the competitive 12-member Southeastern Conference under the mascot Bulldogs and the school colors of maroon and white. Mississippi State competes in the NCAA in football, basketball (men's and women's), baseball, softball, tennis (men's & women's), golf (men's & women's), soccer (women's), volleyball, track and field (men's outdoor & women's indoor & outdoor), and cross country running (men's & women's).

Overall, Mississippi State Bulldogs teams have earned 28 SEC Championships.

Football

Main article: Mississippi State Bulldogs football

See also: Egg Bowl

Mississippi State's main rival is The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) Rebels. Many also feel that a few other teams in the Southeastern Conference, such as Alabama and LSU, serve as rivals in specific sports.

The Bulldogs and Rebels close each football season with the Egg Bowl, with the victor receiving possession of the Golden Egg Trophy. Mississippi leads the series, one of the south's most played, 60-41-6, dating back to 1901. In 1998 The Mississippi State Bulldogs captured their first SEC Western Division Title with a 28-6 win over the Mississippi Rebels. The Bulldogs have won the last two in the series behind head coach Dan Mullen.

Men's basketball

Main article: Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball

In basketball, Mississippi State has won SEC Championships in 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1991, and 2004, and SEC Tournament Championships in 1996, 2002, and 2009. The Bulldogs have played in the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1963, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009. They played in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1979, 1990, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2007, and 2010. In 1996, MSU made it to the NCAA Final Four before losing in the national semi-finals to the Syracuse Orangemen.

In 1963, the team made history by defying an order from then Governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, not to play in the NCAA tournament, because the team they faced, Loyola University of Chicago, had African-Americans on its squad (4 of them were starters). (The Jackson Daily News also tried to intimidate the Bulldogs against playing the Ramblers by prominently featuring pictures of the 4 black players on the front page of the paper.) Coach Babe McCarthy sneaked the team out of Starkville to travel to East Lansing, Michigan, to face Loyola, only to lose to the Ramblers, who went on to win the title that year. This was one of the first times that an all-white school faced a team with black members, and it is considered to be a watershed moment in the Civil Rights era.

Boston Celtics great Bailey Howell played at Mississippi State and is the only MSU player to be in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

The 1995-96 team reached a pinnacle in MSU's basketball history, winning a second-straight SEC Western Division title, claiming a first-ever SEC Tournament Championship over top-ranked and eventual national champion Kentucky, and gaining a berth in the NCAA's national championship Final Four. That team earned its national championship ticket with impressive regional wins over #1 seed Connecticut and #2 seed Cincinnati. State's 26 wins that season were the most in school history at the time.

Mississippi State's Humphrey Coliseum is the largest on-campus basketball arena in the state of Mississippi. Opened in 1975, Humphrey Coliseum has undergone many modifications during recent years to rank as one of the finest multi-purpose facilities in the Southeastern Conference. The arena seats 11,000 fans. The Bulldogs have sold out of season tickets for the fourth year in a row.

Women's basketball

The Lady Bulldogs have shown marked improvement over the last decade. Nine Lady Bulldogs have made the All-SEC team 16 times, and even more impressive, the women have earned 28 SEC honor roll memberships since 1990.

Baseball

Main article: Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball

Tennis

One of the greatest Bulldog success stories since 1990 has been a tennis program firmly established among the nation's elite. The program has finished in the final top 25 rankings 12 times in that stretch (1990–2001) and in the top 10 seven times in that span.

Under the guidance of former Bulldog and current head coach Sylvain Guichard the past three seasons, State's netmen have continued that steadfastness in the national title hunt, making their 12th, 13th, and 14th straight appearances in the NCAA Championship, one of only seven schools nationally to have done so. State has made the round of 16 or better in the tournament in 10 of those 14 seasons, one of only nine schools nationally to do so.

State has also claimed one SEC title (1993), two regular season league championships and an SEC tournament crown (1996) during the past decade and a half. The Bulldogs made school-best NCAA semifinal appearances in 1994 and 1998 and have been national quarterfinalists five times. The netmen have won nearly 70% of their matches since 1991, scored the third-most SEC wins by any SEC member since 1990, and have been ranked as high as third in the country.

Individually, Bulldogs have been fixtures in the national rankings. Four State players have been ranked No. 1 in the nation in singles—Daniel Courcol in 1992-93, Laurent Orsini in 1993-94, Thomas Dupré in 1996-97, and Marco Baron in 2000-01. Dupre was the National Player of the Year following the 1997 season, and he and Baron were SEC Players of the Year in '97 and '01, respectively. Laurent Miquelard and Joc Simmons captured the 1994 NCAA doubles championship.

Rivals

In football, Mississippi State and Mississippi meet each year in the Egg Bowl. The game was first played in 1901, with the Rebels currently leading the all-time series 60-41-5. MSU has won two straight and 3 of the last 4.

In basketball, MSU leads the series over Mississippi 138-105 and has won 16 of the last 20 and 20 of the last 26.^[1]

In baseball, Mississippi State now leads the series 239-195-5. Over the last 30 years, the Bulldogs are 90-52 against the Rebels. The recently retired Mississippi State head baseball coach, Ron Polk, was 85-49 against Ole Miss.

For the "Big 3" sports (football, men's basketball, and baseball), head-to-head Mississippi State leads Mississippi 418-360-11.

Club Sports

Mississippi State University through the University Rec Sports office also fields several club sports which compete against several other SEC universities. MSU Club Sports include rugby,^[2] cricket,^[3] men's ice hockey,^[4] lacrosse,^[5] disc golf (Club Team acquired first national championship in school history), fencing, tactical airsoft,^[6] paintball,^[7] men's soccer, women's soccer,^[8] volleyball, ultimate,^[9] ballroom dance,^[10] table tennis,^[11] aikido,^[12] and yoga.

Notable Club Sports accomplishments have come from the Men's Soccer club, Men's Ice Hockey club, Men's Cricket club and Men's Disc Golf club. In 2006 the soccer club received a bid to the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association's national tournament ^[13] in Tempe, Arizona. In 2008 the ice hockey club garnered more than 1,200 fans at their first ever home games ^[14] in Tupelo, MS, at the BancorpSouth Arena and followed in 2009 with nearly 5,000 in attendance for a series with Ole Miss.^[15] MSU cricket club won the mega event of 3rd annual Bulldawg Championship Trophy-08 beating Vanderbilt university held at Mississippi state university on July 12 and 13, 2008.^[16] In 2009, the disc golf club won the National Championship at the Collegiate Disc Golf Championship in Augusta, Ga., where they won by seven strokes over runner-up Arkansas.

Traditions

The school colors are maroon and white.^[17] The Bulldog became Mississippi State's official mascot in 1961.^[18] The mascot is lovingly named " Bully." Past mascots have been the Aggies and the Maroons.

Cow bells are a significant part of any Mississippi State University experience. The tradition began after a jersey cow wandered on to the football field in the early 1900s, disrupting a game. Subsequently, State won the football game, and the cow became a symbol of good luck. Eventually, the cow was replaced with just the cow's bell. Handles were welded onto the bells to ease ringing, and cowbells are now manufactured and sold specifically as athletic noisemakers. Clanging cowbells rung by many of the State fans is a part of the tradition of MSU football games, despite the Southeastern Conference's banning of "artificial noise-makers, which was lifted at the beginning of the 2010 season. Ringing of cow bells is now permitted at designated times such as halftime, time-outs, and after touchdowns. "^[19]

The school's fight song is "Hail State,"^[20] which is played by the Famous Maroon Band.

Hall of Fame

MSU has honored many athletes with induction to its Mississippi State University Sports Hall of Fame.

See also

• Rick Stansbury - Men's basketball coach
• Dan Mullen - Football coach
• John Cohen - Baseball Coach
• Egg Bowl
• Jack Cristil - Legendary radio broadcaster

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ Bulldog Rugby
3. ^ MSU Cricket Club
4. ^ Bulldog Ice Hockey
5. ^ Mississippi State Lacrosse
6. ^ MSU-TAC
7. ^ MSU Paintball Club
8. ^ MSU Women's Club Soccer
9. ^ Mississippi State Ultimate
10. ^ MSUBDC
11. ^ MSU Table Tennis
12. ^ University Aikido Club
13. ^ Men's Club Soccer Earnes National Bid
14. ^ Can Hockey Thrive In The SEC?^{[dead link]}
15. ^ http://nems360.com/pages/full_story/push?article-MISS-+STATE+vs-+OLE+MISS-+Familiar+rivalry+plays+itself+out+on+BCS+Arena+ice%20&id=4728765-MISS-+STATE+vs-+OLE+MISS-+Familiar+rivalry+plays+itself+out+on+BCS+Arena+ice&instance=home_news_right
16. ^ [2]
17. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070616050858/http://www.mstateathletics.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=6080#mw
18. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070616050858/http://www.mstateathletics.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=6080#bulldog
19. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070616050858/http://www.mstateathletics.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=6080#cowbell
20. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070616050858/http://www.mstateathletics.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=6080#fight