Many years ago I had a conversation with some Mississippi State friends... I asked them what we should expect to accomplish over a 20 year span. State fans are reasonable, but still want to win. The general consensus we reached was that we would like 12 bowl games, 8 New Year's Day bowl games, 3 ten-win seasons, 2 Western Division titles and one SEC Championship.

I know what the immediate goal of MSU football is - to compete for the Western division. Obviously, winning it doesn't happen too often. I know we like to beat Ole Miss, occasionally Alabama, but over the course of time - what are our goals?

Dan Mullen is climbing the mountain right now. He is developing players and accumulating talent to position Mississippi State to climb a little higher every year. It's a process. When do we, as fans, realistically expect to reach the goal of winning the West? If we can pretend Dan Mullen was going to be here for the next 20 years (or any coach), he would have to be considered very successful at MSU. So how many times would he need to win the West over that stretch - ultimately, what is the goal?