Has Mississippi State Been Relevant Since the Start of the BCS Era?

As a life long Mississippi St. Bulldogs fan, I've always heard how irrelevant MSU is in football. How we have 0 national championships, 0 conference championships, an all-time record under .500, and many other stats that the fans are aware of. Most fans I've encountered have always used their history of national championships and all-time record to base their argument about why their team is better. In my opinion, the national championships earned before the start of the BCS era were a lot easier to obtain. That is why I've decided to see how Mississippi State has fared since the start of the BCS era and if they are getting the respect they deserve.

One fan base that I have come across a lot and always boasts about their national championships and winning percentage is Michigan. Michigan has the best record all time (950-340-36) and has 11 national championships(claimed or unclaimed they have them). And I give them credit for those numbers, but my argument is that 10 of those national championships came from 1901-1948. The other championship was 1997, the year before the BCS began. Michigan’s record since their last national championship is 174-86(.669). Although that is impressive, it’s not their .730 all time record. Many teams benefit off doing well 100 years ago. No one talks about those achievements because they are not relevant.

Mississippi State’s all time record in football is 559-576-39 (.493). Not impressive. In the time between 1998 and now, Mississippi State has a record of 129-125(.508) with 12 bowl appearances (9-3) and 3 of those in a New Years 6 Bowl. Now the record isn't anything to write home about, but that record includes the years from 2001-2006 where MSU won 3 games each season except one when they only won 2 games. Take those years out and State’s record is 112-73 and that winning percentage is all the way up to .605. That is something to be proud of as a fan.

Unfortunately, those years happened, and we can't erase them, but this proves that Mississippi State isn’t just another team in the SEC. The SEC won the national championship from 2006-2012, and MSU has that good of a record in that time. State has many accomplishments since the start of the BCS era, and with Joe Moorhead at the helm, I believe he can take us to greater heights than previous coaches ever could.