Mississippi State Football: 2017 season preview, predictions
By Tim Kaiser
2017 Mississippi State schedule and predictions
| WEEK | DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION |
| 1 | Sept. 2 | vs. Charleston Southern | Starkville, MS |
| 2 | Sept. 9 | at Louisiana Tech | Ruston, LA |
| 3 | Sept. 16 | vs. LSU | Starkville, MS |
| 4 | Sept. 23 | at Georgia | Athens, GA |
| 5 | Sept. 30 | at Auburn | Auburn, AL |
| 6 | BYE WEEK | ||
| 7 | Oct. 14 | vs. BYU | Starkville, MS |
| 8 | Oct. 21 | vs. Kentucky | Starkville, MS |
| 9 | Oct. 28 | at Texas A&M | College Station, TX |
| 10 | Nov. 4 | vs. UMass | Starkville, MS |
| 11 | Nov. 11 | vs. Alabama | Starkville, MS |
| 12 | Nov. 18 | at Arkansas | Fayetteville, AR |
| 13 | Nov. 23 | vs. Ole Miss | Starkville, MS |
Final Thoughts
Mississippi State hasn’t won the SEC West since 1998 and hasn’t won the SEC since 1941. This year will not end the drought. However, this year could be an important stepping stone.
The SEC Media picked the Bulldogs to finish sixth in the SEC West. The good news for the people of Starkville is their arch rivals, who are currently mired in scandal, were picked to finish a distant last. The sportsbook Bovada set Mississippi State’s win total at 5.5. The ESPN FPI computer models simulated the Bulldogs’ record of 6.1-5.9. All of this puts them right where they were last year.
Prediction: 6-6, 2-6 SEC
Mississippi State has one of the toughest schedules in the country. Not only are they playing in what will probably be the best conference and division in the country, they have sneaky tough non-conference games.
The Bulldogs are going to Louisiana Tech, who have won nine games the last three seasons and will play for the Conference USA crown again this year. They also play a good BYU team that beat them in overtime last season.
In conference, LSU and Alabama take out two of their home games. This means Mississippi State is going to need to win a few games as a road underdog if they are going to surpass last season.
Remarkably, their easiest conference game on paper is probably the Egg Bowl. Starkvegas will be rocking from the sound of cowbells for this Thursday night season finale. The danger here is this is Ole Miss’s only game that really matters because of the postseason ban. Either the Rebels will be so hyped they play their best game of the season, or they will be so demoralized at this point the Bulldogs cruise to a blowout that is decided by the end of the first quarter.
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If Grantham improves the defense dramatically, Mississippi State could be looking at a decent bowl, but ultimately there are too many good teams in front of them in the SEC for the Bulldogs to make any significant noise aside from the cacophony of cowbells on game day.