Bulldogs still have a chance to go bowling

Mississippi State may get the biggest assist it has ever had in the quest to extend its college football bowl streak.

The Bulldogs actually have the coronavirus (COVID-19) to thank for it.

Due to the circumstance surrounding the pandemic that has spread across the nation, the NCAA lifted bowl restrictions for teams to qualify for bowls.

That means MSU stands a really good chance to participate in the postseason for an 11th-straight season even with a 2-7 record currently and even if it doesn’t defeat Missouri in the regular season final game on Saturday.

LSU self-imposed a bowl ban recently, while Vanderbilt did not win a single game this season and it doesn’t look like South Carolina will accept a bowl invitation.

That leaves nine SEC teams for nine bowl tie ins plus the College Football Playoff bracket.

The SEC champion will be included in the College Football Playoff for sure and there may be another, then there is the Citrus, Outback, Music City, Gator, Birmingham, Armed Forces and Gasparilla Bowls that will be looking for SEC teams to fill its games.

It will be really interesting how the dominoes begin to fall after the conference championship games are played over the weekend. All of the bowl matchups should be finalized at some point on Sunday.

There is nothing about a two or three-win season that pleases the Bulldogs, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t accept a bowl invite if one happened to come their way.

In a normal year, two or three wins would not be good enough for a team to go bowling, but as we all know, this year has been anything but normal.

MSU would greatly benefit from a bowl invitation because of so many young players on the roster. The opportunity to play an extra game and get the extra practice would be huge for what head coach Mike Leach is trying to build in Starkville.

If Leach had a vote, he would love one more game added to the schedule for that reason.

“I want to play as many games as we can,” Leach said recently. “I mean, we’ve got a young team. The more practice, the more work we get the better, the way I look at it.”

A bowl game for the Bulldogs would be a reward for seniors like Kobe Jones and Erroll Thompson to celebrate their outstanding careers and would provide another chance to showcase the excellent up and coming talent within the program.

Sydney Carter, a power-hitting infielder out of Marietta, Georgia, signed with Mississippi State softball on National Signing Day.

Carter was ranked No. 12 in the nation by Flosoftball in 2017-18 and earned Offensive Player of the Year along with All-state and All-region honors in both 2018 and 2019. She was selected one of the top players in Georgia by Softball America following her fall 2019 season.

“Sydney Carter is one of the strongest hitters I have seen in a long time,” MSU head coach Samantha Ricketts said. “She can change the game with one swing of the bat and is capable of hitting the towering home run balls that Bulldog fans have become accustomed to seeing off the bat of All-american Fa Leilua. She has been coached well in the Atlanta Vipers organization by Jason Holbrook and is a competitive athlete with a strong knowledge for the game.”

Playing the corner infield spots for Lassiter High School, Carter hit 16 home runs as a freshman. She is considered the No. 82 infielder in the class and also pitched in high school.

“I picked MSU because as soon as I stepped on campus it felt like home,” Carter said. “The coaches and players treated me like family, and I just knew it was the place for me.”

Carter led Lassiter to the 6A State Championship in 2020 and has been chosen Scholar-athlete of the Year in every season. In her final season, she batted .370 with 23 RBI and six home runs.

Mississippi State softball signed five student-athletes on National Signing Day on November 11. State’s class was ranked No. 26 by Extra Innings Softball, and all but one signee was among the top 100 in the class.