After undergoing a rebuilding year in 2016, the Mississippi State Bulldogs, led by head coach Dan Mullen and quarterback Nick Fitzgerald, are rising as a potential SEC West sleeper in 2017.
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Their biggest match-up this fall? A home game in Starkville against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Nov. 11.
It's mid-June and already this match-up is a drawing a lot of eyeballs as a potential trap game for the Crimson Tide.
Via Sporting News:
"at Mississippi State (Nov. 11): Can you hear the cowbells? The Tide have not slipped up against the Bulldogs since Nick Saban's first season, but it's a tough out considering the usual tests that lie ahead for Alabama against LSU and Auburn in November. Nick Fitzgerald poses an interesting challenge for the Big Ten, too."
This game was No. 1 for the site as the biggest potential trap game for any of the college football playoff contenders, which is huge.
The Bulldogs don't figure to be a .500-level football team again this fall, and their date with Nick Saban and Alabama this fall should have all the fireworks. Alabama is going to contend for another CFB title in 2017, but getting through the Bulldogs in November certainly has all the makings of a trap game. In a lot of ways, it mirrors the Texas A&M vs. Alabama meetings when Johnny Manziel was in College Station.