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Mississippi State

REPORT: Mississippi State's regular SEC opponents set for next four seasons

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk09/22/25RobbieFaulkOn3
davis wade6
Mississippi State's Davis Wade Stadium ((Photo by Jared Thomas, Maroon and White Daily)

For the next four years, the SEC will implement three regular opponents for teams around the league and it appears the Mississippi State fans can start making plans.

While the conference will formally announce the opponents live on the SEC Network and ESPN 2 on Tuesday night at 6 p.m., On3’s Chris Low has already reported each team’s matchups. The report states that the Bulldogs are set to take on Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Alabama every season from 2026-29.

Ole Miss was the given as the conference said they would keep most of the yearly rivalries permanent. As for the other two opponents, that was up for debate from fans leading up to the announcement.

Crimson Tide back on the schedule for Bulldogs

State and Bama have one of the oldest rivalries in the SEC with the team’s first meeting all the way back in 1896 when the Crimson Tide won a 20-0 ball game. Since that time, the two squads have played a total of 108 times and it’s been the most-played matchup for the Bulldogs outside of the Battle for the Golden Egg.

While it’s a rivalry in terms of proximity and regular matchups, it’s been dominated by the Crimson Tide. Bama has a dominant 88-17-3 lead in the series and has won an incredible 16-straight matchups as Nick Saban went 16-1 against the Bulldogs during his time in Tuscaloosa. For the first time since 2006, State will see a different coach across the field, however.

The series between the Tide and Bulldogs had been played every season from 1944-2023 before the SEC’s schedule change in 2024 following the additions of Oklahoma and Texas.

Of the original SEC teams, State has played Vanderbilt the fewest times. Next year will be just the 25th meeting between the two teams. They first met in 1904 and played each other three times before the league assembled in 1933. State holds a 15-7-2 record in the season and has won five-straight dating back to 2008.

The last meeting between the Bulldogs and Commodores came in 2021 when State traveled to Nashville and took down Vandy 45-6. This current Vandy team has become one of the toughest teams to play in the league as head coach Clark Lea and his quarterback Diego Pavia have changed the culture of the program.

After going to just two bowl games in 10 years and producing 10-straight losing seasons, Lea and Pavia led the Dores to a 7-6 record a season ago with wins over Alabama and Auburn. This season, Vandy is a perfect 4-0 and ranked 18th in the country.

The Bulldogs are also undefeated this season as Jeff Lebby has led the team to its first 4-0 start this season with a chance to get to 5-0 against No. 15 Tennessee on Saturday inside Davis Wade Stadium. It’s setting the tone for the future in Starkville with the three teams above set to be on the schedule yearly for the next four seasons. After that, the SEC will re-evaluate the schedules.

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