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Mississippi State learns dates for 2026 football slate

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk6 hours agoRobbieFaulkOn3

As the 2025 season begins to wind down, football never really stops inside the SEC.

Preparations for the 2026 season have already begun for the conference and for Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby. As he gets ready for year three in the league, the coach found out the dates for his schedule on Thursday with the conference releasing the full ’26 slate.

September brought the announcement of the next four years of SEC opponents for the Bulldogs and the rest of the league so no new information was learned on Thursday night there. The Bulldogs found out in September that Ole Miss, Alabama and Vanderbilt would be their regular opponents for the next four seasons with the conference reassessing after that.

The Bulldogs did not play Alabama, LSU or Auburn the last two seasons after the trio had been a staple on State’s schedule for over eight decades. All three will return to the schedule next season with the Bulldogs hosting Bama and Auburn and traveling to LSU.  

State plays five SEC home games next season with the Bama and Auburn games being joined by Vanderbilt, Missouri and the first meeting with Oklahoma. On the road, the Bulldogs will play at South Carolina, Texas and Ole Miss in addition to LSU.

The Bulldogs open up the SEC slate on the road at South Carolina on September 19 before coming back home to host Missouri on September 26 and then taking on Alabama on October 3.

After an open week on October 10, the Bulldogs are back to work taking on Lane Kiffin and LSU on October 17. Oklahoma comes to Starkville for the first time on October 24. State faces off with the other half of the Red River Rivalry the next week with the Bulldogs heading to Austin to take on Texas on October 31.

In the month of November, the SEC schedule will round out with State hosting Vanderbilt and Auburn on November 7 and 14 respectively. They will close the season with a road trip to Ole Miss against the Rebels in the Battle for the Golden Egg on Saturday, November 21.  

The ’26 season is the first with nine SEC games on the docket. That means that the Bulldogs will have to cancel one of its non-conference foes that have been previously schedule. The current schedule has the Bulldogs kicking off the season at home against Louisiana Monroe on September 5 with a road trip at Minnesota on September 12 and a home game against Tennessee Tech (November 21).

The previously scheduled game with Troy on September 19 was replaced by South Carolina and Troy has been removed from the schedule with the SEC going to nine league games.

The Bulldogs are 5-7 in Lebby’s second year in Starkville, but APR and several declines from schools around the country have allowed them a chance to finish strong. Lebby will take his team to Charlotte, NC on January 2 to take on Wake Forest with an opportunity to get to six wins on the season.

State is set to bring back key pieces like sophomore QB Kamario Taylor, junior RB Fluff Bothwell and LB Isaac Smith on next year’s roster with many other major contributors possibly returning as well.

2026 Schedule:

September 5: vs. Louisiana Monroe

Sept. 12: at Minnesota

Sept. 19: at South Carolina  

Sept. 26: vs. Missouri

October 3: vs. Alabama

Oct 10: Bye

Oct. 17: at LSU

Oct. 24: vs. Oklahoma

Oct. 31: at Texas

November 7: vs. Vandy

Nov. 14: vs. Auburn  

Nov. 21: vs. Tennessee Tech

Nov. 28: at Ole Miss

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