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Mississippi State

Bulldogs · SEC

Head coach Jeff Lebby Year 3 with Mississippi State

Year-3 HCs (2015-2024) averaged -0.10 W vs. preseason expectation

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
4.9
Expected wins
5-7
Proj record
2 to 8
Win range (90%)
#62 (35–88)
Final rank (90%)
0%
Make playoff
0%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

0%

Baseline projection.

  • vs Vanderbilt
    Home · Nov 7
  • at LSU
    Away · Oct 17
  • vs Oklahoma
    Home · Oct 24
  • vs Alabama
    Home · Oct 3
  • at South Carolina
    Away · Sep 19

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2026

43 score
  • Quarterback 30% (2/4 )
  • Offensive line 45% (9/20 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 48% (10/29 )
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 55% (16/34 )
  • Secondary 32% (9/23 )
  • Special teams 84% (4/7 )

Share of last season's production each unit returns. Higher means more continuity: 70%+ is healthy, 45–70% a normal rebuild, under 45% a major turnover.

Portal additions · 2026

-0.2 rating

27 proven transfers in, carrying the production below from their prior school.

  • Marcus Williams S ← Rice 105 impact
  • Marquis Johnson WR ← Missouri 63 impact
  • Quentin Taylor CB ← Iowa State 62 impact
  • AJ Swann QB ← App State 61 impact
  • Jayson Jenkins DL ← Florida State 41 impact
  • Kendel Dolby S ← Oklahoma 23 impact

Impact scores offensive skill additions (QB/RB/WR/TE) — prior-season production normalized within position (100 ≈ a 90th-percentile producer at that spot) and discounted for non-FBS competition, so a top back counts alongside a top quarterback. Defensive and O-line additions count as transfers but aren't box-score measurable, so they carry no impact score. The rating figure is this class's portal contribution vs. the FBS average, capped at ±2.5.

If QB1 is out (Blake Shapen)

GIE projects a -5.2 rating drop and a -20.6pp shift in playoff probability if Mississippi State loses its QB1 for an extended stretch. (n=2 historical samples; pooled across recent seasons.)

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 38.8% 64th — average
  • Red-zone TD rate 13.0% 33th — below avg
  • 4th-down aggression 40.3% 67th — average
  • Late & close 5.5 yds/play 64th — average

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    Mississippi State: 2025 Week 16 recap

    Mississippi State sits at 58th overall with a 4.1 rating and a 5–8 record heading into Week 16. The Bulldogs absorbed a 38–19 home loss to Ole Miss in Week 14, a result that underscored the offensive struggles that have defined their…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.