After the Mississippi State Bulldogs finished the season (5-7) Bulldog fans thought they would have to wait until next season to see their beloved Bulldogs take the field again. But after hearing that Kansas State and Iowa State decided to decline the invitation Mississippi State Head Coach Jeff Lebby stepped up and accepted the invitation and the opportunity to represent the SEC in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl Friday, January 2, 2026 in Charlotte, North Carolina. This will be the 27th time in program history that they will be going bowling!
Two weeks ago, after the Bulldogs ended their season losing to Ole Miss 38-19 in the Egg Bowl, everyone assumed that the Bulldogs would start shifting focus to next season.
However, anything is possible in sports, and for Coach Lebby and his Bulldogs, anything HAS happened clinching a bowl game. The opportunity to play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl opened up after Iowa State and Kansas State declined the invitation resulting in $500K fines from the Big 12, leaving two playoff spots available for teams that did not win six games.
Using the Academy Progress Rate (APR) as the metric that puts teams in a picking order, the NCAA determines the teams eligible for the final positions. In doing so, the top five teams in the APR were Rice, Auburn, UCF, Mississippi State, and Florida State.
Auburn was the unlikely choice here, as their new head coach was finishing what he started with South Florida for the Cure Bowl against Old Dominion in Orlando.
The only shot the Bulldogs had at making it in was for either UCF or Rice to turn down their respective bowl invitations. With neither team seeking to undergo head coaching changes, the Mississippi State Bulldogs will be going bowling for the first time since the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl, where the Bulldogs defeated Illinois 19-10 with a dramatic comeback victory.
This will be the second appearance by the Mississippi State Bulldogs in a bowl game in Charlotte, N.C., since the 2015 Belk Bowl. On December 30, 2015, the Bulldogs led by Belk Bowl MVP, and now Dallas Cowboys Quarterback, Dak Prescott, defeated NC State 51-28.
Ironically enough the Belk Bowl is now called, The Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Maybe lightning strikes twice for the Bulldogs and bowl game names don’t matter to Coach Lebby and the Bulldogs. Only the outcome. One thing for sure, Coach Lebby will have his Bulldogs ready to play.
Duke’s Mayo Bowl January 2, 2026
Charlotte, North Carolina
Mississippi State (5-7) vs Wake Forest (8-4)
