2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

The 2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team will represent Mississippi State University in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Bulldogs will play their home games at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi, and compete in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They will be led by first-year head coach Mike Leach.

2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
2020 record	0–0 (0–0 SEC)
Head coach	Mike Leach (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Zach Arnett (1st season)
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium (Capacity: 61,337)

2020 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Florida		0	–	0						–
Georgia		0	–	0						–
Kentucky		0	–	0						–
Missouri		0	–	0						–
South Carolina		0	–	0						–
Tennessee		0	–	0						–
Vanderbilt		0	–	0						–
West Division
Alabama		0	–	0						–
Arkansas		0	–	0						–
Auburn		0	–	0						–
LSU		0	–	0						–
Mississippi State		0	–	0						–
Ole Miss		0	–	0						–
Texas A&M		0	–	0						–
Championship: December 19, 2020
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Note: Due to COVID-19, the SEC will play a conference-only schedule. As of August 14, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2019 regular season 6–7, 3–5 in SEC play to finish in fifth in the Western Division. They were invited to play in the Music Bowl, where they lost against Louisville. Joe Moorhead was fired in January 2020, several days after the bowl.[1]

Schedule

Mississippi State announced its 2020 football schedule on August 7, 2019.[2] The 2020 schedule consisted of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season.

The Bulldogs had games scheduled against Alabama A&M, New Mexico, NC State, and Tulane, but were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4][5]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
TBD	Vanderbilt	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS
TBD	at Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA
TBD	Arkansas	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS
TBD	Texas A&M	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS
TBD	at Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)
TBD	at LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)
TBD	Auburn	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS
TBD	Missouri	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS
TBD	at Kentucky	Kroger Field Lexington, KY
TBD	at Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Egg Bowl)
Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 3) released prior to game

Schedule Source:[6]

Rankings

Further information: 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP
Coaches	RV
CFP	Not released																Not released

References

1. "Mississippi State fires Moorhead after 2 seasons". ESPN.com. January 3, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
2. "2020 Football Schedule Announced". Mississippi State University Department of Athletics. August 7, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
3. Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
4. Visser, David (July 21, 2020). "SWAC Suspends Fall Football Season". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
5. Dellenger, Ross. "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
6. "2020 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved January 11, 2020.