Printing Money: What if Mississippi State Printed Its Own Currency? | The 50 Dollar Bill

Fourteen athletic programs call the Southeastern Conference home. Thirteen of those programs can claim at least one team national championship (Missouri and Texas A&M won championships prior to joining the SEC). I'm sorry, Bulldog fans, the mythical title in football in the 1940s does not count, especially since Mississippi State has never made a serious move about claiming it.  However, that does not mean that the Bulldogs have no national championship about which to boast.  In fact, earlier in June, Rhianwedd Price added her name to the list of individuals to claim an individual national championship for the Bulldogs when she captured the 1500m national title at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Price follows the exploits of Brandon McBride.  McBride, who hails from Canada, captured two national championships in the 800m in 2014-2015 with one coming in the indoor championships and the other outdoors. At the 2013 Indoor Track and Field Championships, D'Angelo Cherry won the championship in the 60m dash, and Erica Bougard captured the pentathlon championship.

C.S. Cochran brought the first national championship to Mississippi State when he captured the crown in the 440-yard dash in 1922. He accomplished the feat again in 1923.

Other sports have seen individual national championships claimed by Bulldog athletes as well. In 1989, Jackie Holden and Claire Pollard captured the NCAA women's doubles championship in tennis. Five years later, the doubles duo of Laurent Miquelard and Joc Simmons captured the NCAA men's doubles championship.

For many fans, the accomplishments of these athletes go unnoticed.  No, the championships do not bring the excitement to the entire Bulldog fan base that a team championship would, but they are more than deserving of being remembered and celebrated.  Perhaps some sort of collage could be used on the MSU 50 dollar bill on the obverse and reverse of the hypothetical note.

What follows is the list of individual national champions, not listed above, at Mississippi State:

Dale Gibson--1972 Indoor 600-Yard Run

Evis Jennings-1976 440-Yard Dash

Michael Hadley, Daryl Jones, Micheal Moore, and George Washington-1982 Outdoor 1600 Meter Relay

Garry Frank-1987 Outdoor Shot Put

Lorenzo Daniel-1988 Outdoor 200 Meter Dash

Pierre Brown-2003 Indoor 60 Meter Dash

Tiffany McWilliams-2003 and 2004 Outdoor 1500 Meter Run, 2004 Indoor Mile Run