Tue Jun 02, 2009 5:29 pm EDT
Mississippi State fans eagerly anticipate inevitable bloodbath
Ole Miss isn't the only outfit in my native Magnolia State looking forward to banner expectations this fall: Southern Miss and Mississippi State's season ticket sales are on record paces, too, in a truly dismal economy. State, in particular, are setting a relatively blistering pace for 55,000-seat Davis-Wade Stadium:
As of today, State has sold 22,970 football season tickets. Throw in the 10,000 expected student ticket sales, and that's 32,970.
Last year at this time, the total, also including student tickets, was 18,212. Even more eye-opening is this: Just last year, State didn't crack the 32,000-ticket plateau until 25 days before kickoff.
State sold over 36,000 last year. The record is over 38,000. State figures it can sell approximately 46,000 season tickets this year before running out.
Bulldogs partisans are optimistic people, obviously, and generally decent folk; a good percentage of my closest relatives are in that number. But, as excited as they are about new boss Dan Mullen and, I dunno, the new uniforms and all, I can't help but think they're setting themselves up as the unwitting spectators in a kind of bizarro gladiator scene, where the Christians flock in the tens of thousands to the Coliseum to see themselves fed to the lions. That's the best way I know to describe MSU's home schedule:
Sept. 5: Jackson State
Sept. 26: LSU
Oct. 3: Georgia Tech
Oct. 10: Houston
Oct. 24: Florida
Nov. 14: Alabama
Nov. 28: Ole Miss
Excluding cupcake Jackson State, the other six teams coming to Starkville this fall were 52-15 against teams other than each other in 2008, and all are expected to be better -- in LSU's case, vastly better -- against a team whose only apparent antidote for seven losing seasons in eight years is "New Coach!" LSU will start the season in the top 12-15 nationally, alongside Florida, 'Bama and Ole Miss, a quartet that's beaten MSU by an average of almost 17 points in 31 games this decade, with an astonishing eight shutouts. There's also Georgia Tech, another likely top-20 team that trounced the Bulldogs 38-7 last year in Atlanta, and Houston, which more than doubled MSU's averages in yards and points. Even for an elite team, that would be the toughest home gauntlet in the country.
For the sheer spectacle of watching powerful intruders, that's a good draw. But man, what a gruesome spectacle.
Dr. Saturday
Matt Hinton
Dr. Saturday is a college football blog edited by Matt Hinton. Email him tips and feedback.
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6 Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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horrible schedule, I think they can go 3-3 though during those 6 games
actually, those uniforms almost look like bama's
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Some of the increase in ticket sales has to with the fact the game day experience at Mississippi State has improved greatly recently: The new tailgate park at the foot of the stadium; the massive new HD board; an offense that doesn't make me want to kill myself. Fans were so demoralized after 5 years of Sylvester Croom's West Coast Offense, that the promise of a non-dysfunctional, non-prehistoric offense is enough to get the fans out to the stadium. Also, don't forget MSU is the biggest university in the state and low attendance numbers are more function of apathy than economics or demographics.
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horrible schedule, I think they can go 3-3 though during those 6 games
actually, those uniforms almost look like bama's "
Really???? Uni's look like bama's??? Have you even seen them? And seriously mix of colors.... how about we use our school colors (maroon and white). I can see us going 3-3 worse case
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This article sure showed them! They'll never sell another one again.
Good job, Matt! You just strait BURNED the Bulldog Nation!
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He's not "criticizing" State for anything really. He's just saying that it is very surprising how many tickets have been sold thus far.
Chris,
Mitt Hinton is NO Rebel homer. Read his blog more often and you'll find he's quite critical of my Rebs. Truth be told, he's a Southern Miss Golden Eagle fan... I know, I also never would have guessed that the most intelligent college football board out there would be run by the fan of a non-BCS school but, what can I say, I'm biased.
1 - 6 of 6