Alabama v. Mississippi St.

It takes only one hour and 28 minutes to drive from Starkville, Miss. to Tuscaloosa, Ala. -- you just stay on U.S. Highway 82 the whole way.  But historically, the gap between the football programs in those two cities is much, much greater.  Alabama has the fifth highest winning percentage among all Division I-A football programs; Mississippi State is 96th.  Alabama has 29 SEC championships; Mississippi State has one.  Alabama has won 36 bowl games; Mississippi State has won 11.

You get the point.

Given this background, it is not surprising that this series is lopsided in favor of the Tide.  Alabama and Mississippi State have played each other almost every year since 1925, and every year since 1939, and the Tide leads the all-time series 78-18-3.  But there is one great moment for the Bulldogs that should be remembered.  On November 1, 1980, Alabama traveled to Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi with a 28-game winning streak -- the longest in school history.  The Tide had won the National Title in 1978 and 1979, and they were ranked number-1 in the country in 1980.  But Mississippi State was 6-2 with wins over Miami (Fla.) and Auburn, and the Bulldogs led 6-3 with only a few minutes left.  Alabama, being Alabama, mounted a final drive, and was on the MSU 4-yard line with 25 seconds to play.  But Alabama FUMBLED the ball, and MSU pounced on it for the game-clinching score.  That game ended Bear Bryant's last chance at the National Title, and was in fact the only time MSU ever beat the Bear.

MSU wouldn't beat Alabama again until 1996.

It took a long time, but Alabama did eventually get its revenge.  In 2014, Mississippi had one of its greatest teams.  Led by current Cowboy star Dak Prescott, the Bulldogs won their first nine games, including wins over number-8 LSU, number-6 Texas A & M, and number-2 Auburn, to become the number one team in the country.  They still had the number-1 ranking on November 15, 2014, when they rolled into Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama.  But the Tide killed off MSU's chance at the national title, jumping out to a 19-3 halftime lead, and hanging on for a 25-20 victory.

Dak Prescott isn't at MSU any more, and the Bulldogs miss him.  Here are the current SEC Standings (conference games only):

EAST
Florida:  4-2
Kentucky:  4-3
Georgia:  3-4
S. Carolina:  3-4
Tennessee:  2-3
Vanderbilt:  1-4
Missouri:  0-5

WEST
(1) Alabama:  6-0
(8) Auburn:  5-1
(10) Texas A & M:  4-2
(19) Louisiana St:  3-2
Arkansas:  2-3
Mississippi St:  2-3
Mississippi:  1-4

As you can see, MSU is in a very difficult division.  They beat South Carolina, lost to LSU, Auburn, and Kentucky, but last week they upset our old friends from Texas A & M by the score of 35 to 28.  So there is still life in Starkville.  On the other hand, Alabama has been extraordinary so far this season.  The oddsmakers have installed the Tide as 29 1/2 point favorites in a game where 52 points are expected.  That would work out to something like a 41-12 victory for Alabama.  I don't know that it will be that easy, but I do believe that an upset by MSU today would be even bigger than the one they pulled off in 1980.