Mississippi
Everything Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby Said About Texas A&M, Playing at Home
Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby met with the media for his weekly Monday morning press conference.
The Bulldogs’ first-year coach talked about a variety of topics and issues following last week’s 41-31 loss to No.5 Georgia and ahead of this Saturday’s game against No. 14 Texas A&M.
Here’s everything Lebby said about Texas A&M and playing back at home for the first time in three weeks:
Jeff Lebby’s Opening Statement
Incredibly excited to be back home be here at Davis Wade. I think as everybody has seen we’ve gone on the road the last two weeks, played in incredible environments and I can’t say it enough our guys are incredibly excited to be at home in Davis Wade welcoming back our 2014 team that had such a special season. So, we’ve got a lot to be excited about in front of us and can’t wait to see our fan base man back home.
What are your early thoughts on Texas A&M?
They’re coming off a bye but they’re a football team that’s playing really good. They’re playing complimentary football. They’re playing really good in all three phases. You look at them defensively, statistically, as good as we’ve played all year. Specifically, at the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of the ball is as good as anybody we’ve played. Offensively, you know the QB comes back last week, plays the best game he’s played all year long before ,and did a really good job of distributing the ball, was really accurate and they’ve got a really good run game to go with it. So, we’ve got a top 15 team coming to town and another great challenge.
Can you speak to how much of an impact [the home crowd] makes for you guys whenever it’s rocking and the cow bells are clinging?
There’s nothing better. Our atmosphere and our energy is still unlike anywhere in America. So, for us, that will be a huge advantage for us on Saturday afternoon. Our guys want that, man, they need that, they can’t wait to be back here at home. There’s a bunch of excitement inside our building just because of the fact that we’re able to be at home and be in Davis Wade Stadium.
Mississippi State Football: Clear Skies and High Hopes Against Texas A&M
No. 14 Texas A&M at Mississippi State: Game Time and Broadcast Info
Mississippi State Men Left Out of AP Top 25 Preseason Poll
Week 7 SEC Football Recap: Mississippi State’s Budding Star Quarterback
It will be a beautiful start to the weekend with sunny skies and highs in the 80s. Here’s your statewide forecast from the National Weather Service.
Northern Mississippi
It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy and warmer with lows in the mid to upper 60s.
Central Mississippi
Friday will be sunny with highs in the mid to upper 80s. Friday night will be mostly cloudy, with lows in the mid-60s.
Southern Mississippi
It will be a sunny Friday with highs in the mid-80s. Friday night will be partly cloudy with lows in the lower 60s.
Mississippi
Golden Spikes watchlist features players from Mississippi State, Ole Miss – SuperTalk Mississippi
Two pitchers representing Mississippi universities are up for the 2026 Golden Spikes Award.
USA Baseball announced Thursday the 25 semifinalists for the award, which is presented annually to the most prolific college player in the nation. Both Mississippi State’s Tomas Valincius and Ole Miss’ Cade Townsend cracked the list. It’s the latest award each was announced to be up for after Valincius and Townsend became Ferris Trophy finalists earlier this week.
Valincius, a left-hander who followed first-year Bulldog head coach Brian O’Connor to Starkville from Virginia has been a star for Mississippi State this season. In 13 starts, the sophomore is 8-2 with a 2.52 ERA and 105 strikeouts, along with just 16 walks across 75 innings of work.
He has effectively limited opposing hitters to a .209 batting average on the year and ranks second in the SEC in strikeouts and wins, and is third in innings pitched and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.56) and WHIP (0.99).
Valincius is the 10th Bulldog to earn a semifinalist distinction from the Golden Spikes Award and the first since Dakota Jordan in 2024. Will Clark is the program’s only Golden Spikes Award winner in 1985 while Rafael Palmeiro and Brent Rooker finished as finalists for the honor in 1984 and 2017, respectively.
For Ole Miss, Townsend is the first Rebel since Doug Nikhazy in 2021 and just the seventh ever to be named a semifinalist for the award. He is the first Ole Miss sophomore to ever be named a semifinalist as all six before him were juniors.
The right-hander boasts a 3.25 ERA and has struck out 77 batters while only allowing 20 earned runs in 55.1 innings. Townsend ranks fifth in the SEC in WHIP (1.01), strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.50), and strikeouts per nine innings (12.52). He leads the Rebels in all three categories as well as batters struck out looking (24) and wins and is second in opponent batting average (.202) and total strikeouts (77).
If Townsend is announced as a finalist, he will join Stephen Head and Drew Pomeranz in earning the honor. No Ole Miss player has ever won the Golden Spikes Award.
The full list of semifinalists can be found here. Finalists will be named on June 10, and this year’s Golden Spikes Award winner will be announced on the MLB Network on June 29. Fans can weigh in on which player is their favorite by clicking here.
One series remains in the regular season and Ole Miss and Mississippi State baseball are in similar situations.
Both are locks for the NCAA Tournament but are on the bubble for hosting a regional.
The Tennessean’s latest bracket projections have both the Rebels and Bulldogs as two of the 16 national seeds, but that is not solidified yet.
Finding wins in the final series, and possibly the SEC Tournament too, are necessary. Both teams close the regular season on the road against ranked teams that are also projected to host regionals.
The No. 12 Bulldogs (38-14, 15-12 SEC) play at No. 10 Texas A&M (37-12, 16-10). The No. 19 Rebels (35-18, 14-13) play at No. 16 Alabama (35-17, 16-11). Both series begin May 14 (6 p.m., SEC Network+).
Here’s a look at the different scenarios for Ole Miss and Mississippi State to host NCAA Tournament regionals.
Mississippi State, Ole Miss hosting scenarios for NCAA Tournament
Ole Miss and Mississippi State getting swept could knock them completely out of the hosting conversation, barring a deep run in the SEC Tournament. However, SEC Tournament wins are not always viewed the same as SEC regular-season wins by the selection committee.
Mississippi State is in a slightly better spot than Ole Miss. The Bulldogs’ RPI is at No. 12, one spot ahead of Ole Miss. They are tied for sixth in the SEC standings, while Ole Miss is ninth.
The Bulldogs also went 4-0 against Ole Miss, which could give them the edge if the final hosting seed came down to those two teams.
The Tennessean projects MSU as the No. 12 national seed and the Rebels as the No. 13 seed. D1Baseball and Baseball America also project MSU to host, however they both have Ole Miss as a No. 2 seed.
That could mean Ole Miss needs two wins against Alabama, while MSU may be fine with just one win at Texas A&M. If Ole Miss wins one game at Alabama, it probably would need multiple wins in the SEC Tournament.
Mississippi State winning two games at Texas A&M could keep it in contention for a top eight seed. Ole Miss and Mississippi State sweeping their series obviously would, too.
Getting a top eight seed is advantageous because that means you are guaranteed to host a super regional.
Who Ole Miss, Mississippi State fans should root against
It will help Ole Miss and Mississippi State if teams near them in the projections lose, too. That would be teams like Oregon, West Virginia, Wake Forest, Nebraska, Oregon State and Kansas.
Oregon hosts Southern Cal, Nebraska plays at Minnesota, Kansas plays at BYU, Wake Forest plays at Duke, Oregon State hosts Air Force and West Virgina hosts TCU.
How NCAA Tournament history could be made in Mississippi
If everything falls the right way, there’s a chance Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Southern Miss all host NCAA Tournament regionals. That’s never happened.
The No. 9 Golden Eagles (37-14, 19-8 Sun Belt) are projected by The Tennessean as the No. 10 national seed, just ahead of MSU and Ole Miss.
Southern Miss plays a home series against Georgia Southern (15-37, 7-20) at Pete Taylor Park beginning May 14 (7 p.m., ESPN+).
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
-
Milwaukee, WI4 minutes agoFive teenagers arrested following police pursuit in Milwaukee
-
Atlanta, GA10 minutes ago2 Giant Pandas Are Headed to This US Zoo. Meet Ping Ping and Fu Shuang
-
Minneapolis, MN16 minutes agoBauhaus Brew Labs in northeast Minneapolis set to close next month
-
Indianapolis, IN22 minutes agoIndy 500 qualifying format, schedule, entries, how to watch this weekend
-
Pittsburg, PA28 minutes agoHere are all the free movies you can watch outside this summer in Pittsburgh
-
Augusta, GA34 minutes ago25-year-old woman killed in shooting on Cameron Drive
-
Cleveland, OH46 minutes ago
U.S. Navy warship to be commissioned in Ohio
-
Austin, TX52 minutes agoTexas Metro Areas Are Coming for Chicago
