Good news for the Bulldogs, as Florida will be down top receiver Eugene Wilson. Story below from AP:

BIG in-state get this morning, with four-star linebacker Tyler Lockhart. I'm not sure if this one is still over, as it's been a constant back and forth with Auburn. But the Bulldogs have pulled ahead right now to get his pledge.

Guys, here's our weekly Q&A with the opposing beat writer. This week, we spoke to our Rivals affiliate who covers Florida, Jason Higdon from 1st and Ten Florida:

Good Juco pickup on Wednesday night:
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Hey guys, I'll be updating this as we get closer to Saturday, but here's a running list of the visitors Mississippi State is expecting on campus Saturday for the game against Florida:
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Audio from lebby's time on the teleconference this morning:

Four-star Courtland Muldrew is taking his official visit this weekend with Mississippi State. Here's the latest story on him ahead of his visit:

Via our friend Adam Gorney, there's still been a lot of chatter with Bulldogs commit Mario Nash. He's been to both home games so far, but Ole Miss, Florida State, Clemson and Colorado are all pushing:

Blake Shapen, Hunter Washington and Sulaiman Kpaka spoke to members of the media on Tuesday. Here's their full interviews:

Not a bad schedule as the Bulldogs will work to try to get back to the NCAA Tournament. Release from State:

Mississippi State men's basketball has announced the final pieces of its 2024-25 schedule on Monday.

The Bulldogs will take on Utah (Nov. 17) at the Landers Center in Southaven and Central Michigan (Dec. 17) at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson. State and Utah also will square off on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 at the Delta Center, home of the NBA's Utah Jazz.

The Maroon and White has won both of its previous meetings over the Utes, most recently a 52-49 decision, to win the 2022 Fort Myers Tipoff in Florida. State also took down No. 19 Utah, 78-64, to punch its ticket to the 1995 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 under Richard Williams.

In 49 days, the Bulldogs will face West Georgia (Nov. 4) during their 2024-25 season opener at Humphrey Coliseum and officially embark on the program's third season under Chris Jans, who has guided State to consecutive NCAA Tournament trips. The Maroon and White are looking to secure three straight NCAA Tournament bids for the third time in program history.

State also plays host to Georgia State (Nov. 8) and Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 12) over the season's first nine days before welcoming Pittsburgh (Dec. 4) for the SEC/ACC Challenge, Prairie View A&M (Dec. 8) and Bethune-Cookman (Dec. 30) to Humphrey Coliseum in December.

The Bulldogs will travel to SMU (Nov. 22) and Memphis (Dec. 21) to begin a pair of home-and-home series that feature return games to Humphrey Coliseum in 2025-26. State also will meet fellow 2024 NCAA Tournament participant and 30-game winner McNeese (Dec. 14) at Cadance Bank Arena in Tupelo.

The Bulldogs will be joined by Butler, Northwestern and UNLV (Nov. 28-29) at the Arizona Tipoff looking to capture the program's third consecutive multi-team tournament title under Jans. State defeated Marquette and Utah to claim the 2022 Fort Myers Tipoff in Florida before knocking off Washington State and Northwestern en route to the 2023 Hall of Fame Classic in Connecticut.

Humphrey Coliseum was one of the nation's most electric environments in 2023-24 and posted the program's fifth highest attendance average for a season. The Bulldogs boasted seven sellouts, the most on record for a season dating back to 2008-09, highlighted by four in a row to conclude the season.

Fans can purchase season tickets through Mississippi State's Athletic Ticket Office starting as low as $225 at www.HailState.com/tickets or by calling (662) 325-2600 / (888) 463-2947 (GO DAWGS).

State has secured back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances fueled by a pair of 21-win campaigns with Coach Jans at the helm. The last time the Bulldogs collected back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids was during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

Last season, the Bulldogs captured three victories over Associated Press Top 10 opponents for the first time since 2001-02. State validated its regular season home win over No. 5 Tennessee by upending the top-seeded Vols at the SEC Tournament in addition to defeating No. 8 Auburn at Humphrey Coliseum.

Meet the first five-stars

Initial 2027 top 100

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Some bad marks here, but honestly, some grades weren't as bad as I thought they would be:

Yesterday was a massive day for the basketball Bulldogs as well. I'll be following up with more coverage, but the dogs grabbed four-star King Grace last night over some other big schools. Free story up now on front page:

2026 4⭐️ RB Damarius Yates has committed to Mississippi State. Yates is the highest rated commit in the Lebby Era!

#hailstate #showtime

I mean, just yikes. Jeff Lebby is doing a lot of things right, but this one shows the Bulldogs have a loooong way to go:

As I did for the opener and will for every home game this season, I'm tracking the visitors in town this weekend for the Bulldogs' game, against Toledo. I'll be updating as more are confirmed.

OFFICIAL VISITS
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As we do each week, our Q&A with the opposing team's beat writer. This week, we talked Toledo with Toledo Blade reporter Kyle Rowland. He's predicting an upset win for the Rockets on Saturday:

Video included from media availability with wide receivers Kelly Akharaiyi and Jordan Mosley, linebacker Stone Blanton and defensive lineman Trevion Williams:

Lebby's third time meeting the media on his weekly Monday press conference:

Update from our friend Sam Spiegelman on one of State's biggest pledges so far, four-star OL Mario Nash. He's solid now, but Ole Miss and others still working:

A look at Pro Football Focus' grades. I'm a bit surprised to see Blake Shapen's grade as high as it was. Had to be his second half play that pushed it up:

How many of you stayed up to watch this one? Didn't get over until after 1 am CT. Buldogs got down 30-3, then came back with 20 straight, but couldn't get a defensive stop at the end and came up short. Here's the full recap and highlights from the game:

For those interested, game preview from our friends at ASUDevils.com