An old rivalry between Tennessee football and the Mississippi State Bulldogs returns Saturday. Here are the top 10 memorable UT Volunteers vs. MSU games.
Once upon a time, Tennessee football actually had a rivalry with the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The two schools have faced each other 45 times in history, with UT leading the series 28-16-1. The rivalry at times was in the SIAA, the Southern Conference and the SEC.
It dates back to when MSU was the Mississippi A&M Aggies and when they were called the Mississippi State Maroons. And there have been plenty of fireworks on both sides throughout the series history.
UT faced Mississippi State every year from 1919 to 1926, from 1948 to 1955 and from 1957 to 1964. Three of the Vols’ six national title seasons came in years the two schools faced each other. Often times, the schools would play in Memphis, which is in the state of Tennessee but much closer to Starkville than Knoxville.
Anyway, when Tennessee football faces the Bulldogs on Saturday, they will be renewing a rivalry that has had championship implications in the past, ushered in new stars, and brought about major upsets. Plenty of games have been memorable between the two programs.
In this post, we’re going to take a look back at this former rivalry and remember the fireworks. They came on both sides despite the historical dominance the Vols enjoyed in the series. With both teams needing a win, Saturday could end up being another crucial game between them.
Could it etch its way into the history books with other games in this series? You don’t usually expect something like that from a noon game, but it’s certainly possible when you look at the history of this matchup.
So what has this series brought to the table in the SEC? When has this been a crucial matchup that had major implications? Let’s break all of that down here. These are top 10 memorable games between Tennessee football and the Mississippi State Bulldogs.