Mississippi State men's and women's basketball took another step this week towards the 2024-25 season, with the reveal of their Southeastern Conference opponents.
With the additions of Texas and Oklahoma into the league, the scheduling format for both the men's and women's league schedules have changed – some being for the better, and some for the worse.
For Jans, in his third season, the Bulldogs will host Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Texas and Texas A&M. They will travel to Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, Auburn, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Tennessee.
For Purcell, also in his third season in Starkville, the Bulldogs will host Auburn, Alabama, Arkansas, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Texas and Oklahoma. They will also travel to Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Here are three takeaways from the two schedule reveals.
For fans, the storylines in Mississippi State's home schedules are perfect
It's hard not to be excited about the teams coming to The Humphrey Coliseum during the women's basketball season.
Texas, coached by former Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer, who took the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championship games, will make his first return since leaving for Austin. It will be interesting to see what kind of response he will get from a passionate fanbase.
The Bulldogs will also host defending national champions South Carolina, who has won 50-straight SEC games.
Mississippi State will also host the only matchup next season against Ole Miss, which always means a lot (more on that later.
On the men's side, The Hump should be rocking whenever Alabama comes to town. The same will go for Kentucky's trip to Starkville, as the Bulldogs look for revenge after last year's buzzer-beating winner from Reed Sheppard. Texas should also be a top-20 team next year, and Ole Miss could take another step in year No. 2 under Chris Beard, giving the Bulldogs a handful of premium home games to get the fans excited.
Mississippi State should never play Ole Miss once in a season
With larger conferences, some of the SEC's long-standing rivalries will not be played on the football side, as Mississippi State will no longer face SEC West foes Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Kentucky on a yearly basis.
We are seeing some of those changes on the basketball side of things, too. The only difference is football has done the right thing by protecting some of the league's most-important rivalries.
Going forward on the women's basketball side, each team will have one home-and-home opponent that rotates yearly. For Mississippi State, that team is Auburn next season, meaning Ole Miss' trip to Starkville will be the only matchup between the Magnolia State rivals.
That should never happen. The SEC should have made Mississippi State and Ole Miss permanent home-and-home rivals. They should have done the same with Auburn and Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma (or Texas A&M), Tennessee and Vanderbilt and Arkansas and Missouri, then figure everything else out from there.
The best part of college sports is the history between rivals and teams that fuel the fanbases. Purcell and Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin understand that, too, constantly advocating for the capabilities of women's basketball in Mississippi.
Ole and Mississippi State should have been a protected rivalry, just as it appears to be on the men's side.
Though better than last season, Mississippi State men's basketball still has a challenging road slate
Mississippi State men's basketball's road SEC schedule last season was nothing short of a gauntlet.
South Carolina turned out to be one of the league's top teams. The Bulldogs had to go to Kentucky, a place they haven't won at in over a decade. Alabama was a final four team. Auburn spent the majority of the season ranked, and won the SEC Tournament. Florida overperformed and made the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs caught Texas A&M in the middle of its late-season run to get to the NCAA Tournament and playing in Oxford is never an easy game.
On initial view, this year's road schedule isn't as daunting, but will still be a challenge to scrap together wins away from The Hump.
Alabama has the chance to be ranked No. 1 at the start of the season. Hype around Arkansas are at an all-time high with the addition of John Calipari as its new head coach, and Bud Walton Arena is as tough as a venue as there is. Tennessee should be a top-20 team again, even without Dalton Knecht and Jonas Aidoo. Auburn should be a contender in the SEC again, and Vanderbilt made a strong hire (and roster additions) under new head coach Mark Byington.
If the Bulldogs did what it accomplished in 2023, largely taking care of business at home while finding a handful of wins away from Starkville, they should be an NCAA Tournament team for the third-straight season.
