Pack your bags: Mississippi State’s bowl dreams are alive and well

Florida is 1-3 with a close loss to South Florida and not-so-close losses to LSU and Miami, both of whom are ranked in the top five of the latest AP Top 25 College Football Poll.

Arkansas is 2-2, but those wins were against Alabama A&M (an FCS school) and Arkansas State (Sun Belt) and the two losses came on late fumbles against then-No. 17 Ole Miss and Memphis.

That fan base is already paying more attention to head coaching candidate rankings than any top 25 poll.

It’s not inconceivable Arkansas will have an interim head coach when the Bulldogs travel to the land of Walmart and Tyson chicken.

As of right now, the Bulldogs aren’t favored in either of those games. ESPN’s matchup predictor gives Arkansas a 69.1 percent chance of winning and Florida has a 55.6 percent chance (which is basically a coin flip).

Despite that, these are the two games that present Mississippi State its best chance to become bowl eligible.

And even if the Bulldogs win just one of these games, there’s always…

Ole Miss

Even if Ole Miss was undefeated and Mississippi State was winless, this game would make this list and every other version of it.

OK, that’s a bit of stretch. But even when the Bulldogs and Rebels are having seasons on opposite ends of the spectrum, upsets aren’t that surprising.

Tennessee

ESPN’s matchup predictor gives Mississippi State just a 26.3 percent chance of winning and the Volunteers are 10.5 point favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

For a comparison, Arizona State was a 6.5-point favorite when it went to Starkville.

However, there are no on the field reasons for Tennessee’s ranking being this high.

It’s the fact Mississippi State is 4-0, the interlocking MSU logo will makes it anticipated return and the cowbells are going to be a lot louder for Tennessee than they were for Arizona State.

Even when the cowbells are rung responsibly, they still make an impact. But I don’t expect much responsible cowbell ringing this Saturday.

Also, if the Bulldogs do win this game, every other team below should be on upset alert, especially the ones coming to Starkville.

Missouri

Of the remaining four SEC opponents, Missouri is the lowest ranked. Hence their placement here.

Also, there’s the Kevin Coleman Jr. angle to consider.

Texas A&M

The Aggies haven’t looked like world conquerors or anything, but they’ve looked really good and are ranked No. 9 in the nation.

To be blunt, this is less likely of a win than the next team since its a road game, but I just can’t bring myself to give Texas A&M these types of compliments.

Of course, similar to Missouri, there is the Mario Craver angle to consider. (Be sure to check the message boards that week.)

Texas

It’ll take more than one game against Sam Houston State for anyone in Starkville to believe Arch Manning has found his swagger or whatever.

He’s never been serenated by a chorus of cowbells and, if I’m gauging the fan base right, they’ll be certain to play him a song that lasts four quarters.

And Mississippi State has shown flashes of greatness, so beating at top 10 team at home isn’t as crazy as it might seem.

Georgia

Top five ranked teams are a different story.

Georgia has looked…well, like Georgia (i.e., Alabama in the 2010s).

They did get lucky beating Tennessee two weeks ago and what happens next week against Alabama will go a long way in determining how good Georgia actually is.

No matter the result of that game, this remains Mississippi’s State toughest opponent…until proven otherwise.