Dawg83

I don’t think the ship has necessarily sailed

Mullen got taken to the brink by an FCS team in his debut at UNLV. I am certain State fans will be monitoring his progress the next two years…. Especially if Lebby doesn’t get it going fairly soon.

Four straight losing seasons for Auburn is hard to believe. You can make the case that Mike Leach broke them lol. They were 6-3 going into that game where they blew a 28-3 lead to State, and have gone 16-25 since that game.

Forgot about Auburn/Baylor. Really interested in that game.

Technically we have Week 0 first and I do think Iowa State vs Kansas State is an interesting season opener, but Week 1 is what everyone here cares about. State -12 at USM: both teams were terrible last year but expect to look a lot different this year. I certainly understand the reasons a State fan may be worried about this one and also why a USM fan may be hopeful. I think I have State winning and covering though. I would feel better about USM’s chances if this game weren’t Week 1 before they’ve had a chance to gel a bit more. Just think State improved their talent level in general and shouldn’t be the same disastrous team this year, State 41, USM 20. Ole Miss -38 vs Georgia State: not much mystery in this one but I am curious to see how Simmons looks and how they look defensively after losing so many talented guys, 38 is a big number, I lean GA State barely covers and loses like 52-17. Texas at Ohio State (-2) - how bout this one right out of the gate (won’t be the last time I say that). We will see what Arch is made of quickly. I lean Buckeyes win at home. LSU at Clemson (-4) - can Kelly finally win an opener? I actually am quite high on both of these teams. I actually am going to take LSU getting a road W here. I think Kelly is a better coach than he gets credit for and this year changes some perception on him. Bama -13.5 at Florida State - DeBoer is another one I believe people have written off too quickly. Curious to see what Ty Simpson can do after he waited a long time for his turn. Bama wins and covers,

The question of the day is exactly how good is USM relative to other Sun Belt teams that have pulled upsets? I realize they brought a lot of guys over from Marshall including the QB. But it was roughly about 5 starters from Marshall, so not exactly the whole team that won the conference last year. USM will almost certainly be improved, but it was a 1-11 team last year. Are they improved enough to from that to beating an SEC team in Week 1? I’m skeptical on that front…. Unless State is the same or worse than they were last year, which I’m not expecting.

5-7 would be a very good year for State with this schedule.

I’ve seen a lot of talk from State fans about that ASU game being must win…. ASU is ranked number 11 in the preseason AP poll. Third highest ranked team in State’s schedule behind only Texas and Georgia. This reminds me of when State scheduled West Virginia and Georgia Tech in the 2000’s, and at the time of the games being scheduled years in advance those teams weren’t particularly great, but by the time State actually played them, they were Top 10 teams.

Just can’t get past State’s schedule. Their six FBS home games consist of the following: Four playoff teams from last year, including both SEC title game participants as well as the Big 12 champion. Ole Miss who has won at least 8 games in every full 12 game season of the Kiffin era. And then the easiest home game other than Alcorn is against a MAC team that won in South Bend last year against the national runner ups. The more winnable games are all on the road but State is probably a double digit underdog in at least 3 of those.

Whoops, my bad. lol

Hunter Elliott returning to OM for 2026. Significant news in Oxford for next season. I think the rest of the draft has been a mixed bag for OM. State has had mixed results too. Siary will go pro and the portal pitcher from Rice will as well. But doing well otherwise, including potentially retaining some high profile signees.

What do we think? Ole Miss lost a lot from last year but worked the portal hard again and the schedule isn’t terrible by any means. I think it’s a 7-8 win caliber team with a 9-10 win schedule, if they catch some breaks. State should be improved but the schedule is probably the hardest they’ve had since Mullen’s first year. I think it is fair to say that 5-7 would be a great accomplishment and 6-6 would mean Lebby is a star on the rise. I think it’s a 5-7 caliber team with a 3-9 schedule, unfortunately. Having a hard time figuring out where the wins are going to come from. Charles Huff era begins at USM and they bring in a ton of guys from Marshall’s conference champ team last year. They should be improved, but how improved? We will find out quickly. State at USM on Labor Day weekend. Will dive deeper into the rest of the SEC over the next couple of weeks.

If there was a betting line on it, Selmon is easily one of the top favorites for that job. And to be fair, I think everyone suspected this would be how it played out when Zac was hired in early 2023. He spreads his wings a little to get some AD experience, and he’s generally done a good job, but his family is royalty in Norman so if they offer him the job I can’t imagine he says no.

Welp, State fans may have to brace for yet another AD change in the near future. Joe Castiglione at Oklahoma is retiring. Selmon will most definitely be a name in the mix for that job. Hopefully they aim a little bigger and State can hang onto Zac a little bit longer.

Ace Reese staying at State after a last minute push from LSU, supposedly. We will see what the draft does for both teams. State got some portal commits that could opt to go pro. Ole Miss has several guys from last year’s team that are iffy on whether or not they’ll be back.

I don’t remember the site TBH but I’ve seen at least one site that has State with the top ranked portal class in the country so far. I think they are still hunting a middle infielder and a few other “best available” types but they’ve definitely stacked some big bats this offseason. On top of returning Reese and a few others. Probably going to be a preseason Top 10 team next year. They haven’t gotten EVERYBODY that hit the portal from Virginia but they’ve gotten a handful of them and waiting to hear on the draft with a couple of others.

I have no words for the finish to that game. Other than it was the textbook definition of LSU voodoo and Arkansas baseball being cursed. Coastal vs LSU for all the marbles.

Gage Wood for Arkansas threw the first no hitter in the CWS in 65 years. And was one HBP in the 8th away from a perfect game.

Who are we thinking are the favorites in Omaha? LSU and Arkansas are the highest seeded teams, but they open against each other and are on the same side of the bracket. Would guess one of those two is the favorite to win it all. Don’t sleep on UCLA on that side of the bracket, they have a coach that’s been there and done that (unfortunately as State fans recall from 2013). Murray State is an incredible story and they’ll be the people’s team in Omaha. Just would be surprised to see them advance to the Finals. I think the other side is pretty wide open too. Coastal and Oregon State are both very good, Arizona has good pitching depth. I’m less bullish on Louisville but obviously they’ve been in Omaha a bunch too and maybe are due a deep run.

Yeah I think this is a really good Coastal team. They are a legit contender, IMO. SEC will have either one or two teams in Omaha. That’s it.

Ace Reese announces he is returning to State.

Yep. Three commits from UVA + an additional commitment from one of the UVA guys’ brother. Those two brothers may be the most significant haul so far. One is likely a weekend starter next year and the other was an all Big 10 bat at Illinois.

$2.9 million average salary for O’Connor. That’s more than double what Lemonis was making. Second highest in the country behind Vitello. Knew it would be a big number but that’s a REALLT big number.

Justin Parker staying at State as pitching coach. Personally have no issue with that at all.

Them missing the tourney is odd considering that they had a decent record and were Top 25 in hitting and Top 50 in pitching. Best I can tell, a bad nonconference schedule and a slow start in league play really tanked their RPI. They did a lot to dig out of the hole late in the year, but bid stealers bumped them out of the tourney.