On Tuesday, State 1978 reported that Mississippi State has canceled its 2028 game against the Tigers and rescheduled the game set for the 2029 season. FBSchedules confirmed the Bulldogs’ schedule change.
The SEC has moved to a nine-game conference slate, and teams across the conference are adjusting their future schedules to align for the changes in conference. In addition to nine conference games, every SEC team must play a Power Four team in non-conference play.
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With these changes, teams are forces to trim games off their schedule, and Memphis has now been affected for the second time since the rule went in place.
Last season, Arkansas announced it was postponing its 2026 game against the Tigers to 2030, leaving the Razorbacks with non-conference games against North Alabama, Utah and Tulsa.
The Bulldogs aren’t trimming Memphis off its schedule because it has too many non-conference games, either. Mississippi State canceled the game and added Louisiana Tech to the non-conference slate.
With the new nine-game conference slate and requirement to play a P4 non-conference opponents, teams in the SEC have little incentive to schedule top Group of Six teams that could scuff up their record.
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The Bulldogs have only two non-conference opponents announced in 2028, North Alabama and Louisiana Tech, but Mississippi State has elected to not travel to the Bluff City.
In addition to canceling the 2028 game, the Bulldogs have rescheduled its 2029 matchup to 2034. It’s the only game currently scheduled for both teams in 2034 and is scheduled to be played on Saturday September 16.
Mississippi State also canceled games against Southern Miss and Tulane on Tuesday. It canceled a 2030 road game against the Golden Eagles, only hosting Southern Miss in 2029.
It also canceled a 2030 game against the Green Wave and moved a 2032 road game to Starkville.
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The moves indicate that the Bulldogs have decided they will not play road games against Group of Six teams moving forward. It’s not hard to believe, and more teams will likely go this route.
With only three non-conference games now, SEC teams are optimizing the games they can get in their home stadiums, and because they won’t be able to play every non-conference P4 opponent at home, G6 teams get the short straw and will be forced to play on the road.
The Tigers have played Mississippi State 46 times, and the Bulldogs’ lead the series 35-11, according to Memphis’ website. Memphis has only won one game against Mississippi State since the early 90s, beating them at home in 2021.
In that game, Calvin Austin III led the Tigers to a 31-29 win with three total touchdowns, including a 94-yard touchdown on a punt return.
