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Jeff Lebby sets bowl eligibility as major goal for Mississippi State

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh10/14/25griffin_mcveigh
Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State
© Matt Bush/Special to Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Some head coaches might not enjoy talking about big-picture goals in the middle of the season. Jeff Lebby is taking a different route, though. He is making it quite clear what Mississippi State is looking to achieve at the very least this season — bowl eligibility.

“We’re trying to get postseason eligible as fast as we possibly can,” Lebby said. “So, that means finding a way to go 1-0 on Saturday to give us the ability to take that next step. Our guys understand that, as soon as possible. That, for us, is huge.”

Two straight years have seen Mississippi State fall short of the six-win mark. Lebby finished 2-10 during his first season in charge, while the Bulldogs went 5-7 in a season primarily coached by Zach Arnett. A long bowl streak — by far the longest in program history — got snapped at 13 straight.

So far, solid progress is being made. Six games into the season, four wins are already on the record. All of them came during the nonconference portion of the schedule. Mississippi State continues to search for its first SEC victory under Lebby’s watch.

However, getting two more of those wins presents quite the challenge. Of the six remaining games, four of them are against opponents currently ranked inside the AP top 25. The only two not ranked will be played on the road, beginning Saturday vs. Florida.

Arkansas is the other one, before facing No. 5 Ole Miss, No. 9 Georgia, No. 16 Missouri, and No. 21 Texas. No easy days in the SEC, no matter who you are.

Mississippi State continues to show improvement under Jeffy Lebby

It may only be the middle of October but it’s easy to see the progress being made in Starkville. A weird few years for the program put them in this position, needing some stability before reaching long-term growth. Lebby came over after being the Oklahoma offensive coordinator and, thus far, has brought that.

Doubling your win total year-over-year alone is impressive enough. If Mississippi State can get two more wins, playing in a bowl game would be a massive accomplishment.

Which also means an opportunity to finish with a winning record presents itself. Those became routine under Dan Mullen and, at times, Mike Leach. Anything can happen in a bowl game to get the record over .500. From there, a ton of momentum can be carried over into the following season.