Stolen from SPS: If you could change one moment in MSU sports history...

[PassInterference]

What would it be?

I'm going with defend Peerless Price in the 4th quarter of the SEC Championship Game.

[BhamDawg]

Hiring Sylvester Croom.

[BeardoMSU]

I wish our state wasn't as backwards as it was in the 50's and 60's, for many reasons other than sports. But regarding MSU sports, if our Babe McCarthy teams were allowed to compete in the NCAA those years, rather than being forced to concede that privilege to Kentucky, I think we would have at least a couple of those National Championship banners hanging in the Hump, instead of KY.

[Original48]

Said there and I'll say it here...HR off Thigpen in CWS

[Goat Holder]

Excellent topic, I was just about to post it as well.

Football: Geez, so many. Probably the 4th quarter vs. Tennessee and Cam Newton, tied.

Baseball: Hiring of Polk 2. Could have had any coach in 2003, and Polk's lack of recruiting paved the way for Bianco's rise to prominence. Close second would be that horrendous sequence vs. Texas in the 1985 CWS. If it was certain we bring home hardware, that would be #1, but it never is.

Basketball: 2004, we play somebody, ANYBODY, besides Xavier. We may or may not win it all that year, but we'd have at least made noise. Close second is Syracuse obviously, but at that point there's no guarantee we beat Kentucky and I honestly don't think we could have.

Overall: Not locating in Meridian (and naming the school Meridian or similar, thus giving a regional appeal like Auburn/Clemson).

[maroonmania]

Said there and I'll say it here...HR off Thigpen in CWS

By then we were already in the loser's bracket. If you were going to change one thing to help us win the NC in that CWS it would need to be the shot off Gene Morgan's ankle. I would probably still take knocking down the Peerless Price TD because we will likely have another shot at a baseball NC long before we get another realistic shot at a football SEC title.

[CadaverDawg]

Rick Ray hire*

No, I'd go with the Peerless Price catch bc we likely win the game if not for that momentum shift.

Others:
Relf getting 1 more inch vs Auburn.
Having Relf QB sneaking instead of Tyson Lee vs LSU Dan's first year

[FISHDAWG]

for me it's 4th & goal ... and we lean on Tyson Lee for a jump pass against LSU .... don't know if I will EVER get over that one. SEC champ game, I was expecting to lose after taking the lead with that much time left (but that came close for me as well)

[ScottH]

1. Keffer doesn't go swimming that day
2. Wind blown field goal
3. Line drive off Gene Morgan's foot
4. DOn't drop the pick6 against Cam

[BeardoMSU]

for me it's 4th & goal ... and we lean on Tyson Lee for a jump pass against LSU .... don't know if I will EVER get over that one. SEC champ game, I was expecting to lose after taking the lead with that much time left (but that came close for me as well)

17, just give it to Boobie 4 times in a row; why try and get cute? He was absolutely trucking people in that drive. We were spreading it out, and letting him find nice holes, which gets us all the way down to the 1 yard line. What do we do then? Bring it in to the I-formation and let them stack the box - that philosophy, I'll never understand.

[BrunswickDawg]

Peerless Price all day long. It gets the SEC monkey off our back - and could have meant a higher ranking in '99 to squeak into the Fiesta Bowl instead of 9-2 Tennessee

[I seen it dawg]

Sleepy torn ACL....

[codeDawg]

Just pay Cam Newton and keep your mouth shut. Not only did we not get a NC winning QB, Auburn married Malzahn, and our recruiting suffered for being tattlers. Just play the game and take him.

[State82]

Easy one for me. Line shot off Gene Morgan in '85 CWS.

[drunkernhelldawg]

Peerless Price all day long. It gets the SEC monkey off our back - and could have meant a higher ranking in '99 to squeak into the Fiesta Bowl instead of 9-2 Tennessee

Winner

[JOHNHEVESYMADE]

Hiring an Assistant Coach from a 16-15 Clemson team aka Rick Ray. #MrFebruary

[TheRef]

Hiring an Assistant Coach from a 16-15 Clemson team aka Rick Ray. #MrFebruary

I was hoping this wouldn't go down that road...I knew it wouldn't last too long.

[hailmari]

I suggested that Meridian idea to someone once before and they thought it was crazy. I love Starkville, but I think it's still intriguing. Of course, it's a tad too late now...

[PassInterference]

Just pay Cam Newton and keep your mouth shut. Not only did we not get a NC winning QB, Auburn married Malzahn, and our recruiting suffered for being tattlers. Just play the game and take him.

Good one. You can also make a good case that with Cam Newton, we win the NC instead of Auburn.

[Coach34]

Shit, I have a top 10:

10. Sleepy's ACL- We're up 30-6 on Fla- play ****ing Greg Plump
9. Find Richard Williams a cock-blocker
8. Wayne Madkin connecting on any of those 3 wide open deep passes he missed vs Tenn in the A-T-L
7. Different pitch thrown by Thigpen
6. Let Jon Harden throw BP to the 89 team before that last game with North Carolina. The 89 team could have won the NC also
5. Explain to Todd Merritt a couple weeks before the NCAA Tourney that there was going to be a drug test in 1991
4. Warn the officials that Bama's D was calling out our snap count so Montgomery doesnt jump offsides from the 2 yd line and cost us a win vs Bama
3. Delay Pearl Harbor a couple of days to let the 1941 team home to accept the Sugar Bowl bid
2. Pay Cecil Newton
1. Get a safety over the top on Peerless Price

[Johnson85]

Overall: Not locating in Meridian (and naming the school Meridian or similar, thus giving a regional appeal like Auburn/Clemson).

Ignoring the fact that there's a good chance I would have ended up somewhere else if MSU wasn't in Starkville, if we were going to pick a different location, the Coast would make more sense than Meridian. That would have put us in position to dominate the Coast, hattiesburg, and meridian, split with Jackson like we currently do, and also give us New Orleans and Mobile to draw from. It would probably have resulted in a bigger difference in the culture of the school compared to a move to Meridian, but would at least give the opportunity to really change the history of MSU. That probably would be good for Ole Miss also, as it would let them dominate north mississippi.

[Goat Holder]

Of course, it's a tad too late now...

Yeah no doubt. Plus it only makes me mad.

[Goat Holder]

Ignoring the fact that there's a good chance I would have ended up somewhere else if MSU wasn't in Starkville, if we were going to pick a different location, the Coast would make more sense than Meridian. That would have put us in position to dominate the Coast, hattiesburg, and meridian, split with Jackson like we currently do, and also give us New Orleans and Mobile to draw from. It would probably have resulted in a bigger difference in the culture of the school compared to a move to Meridian, but would at least give the opportunity to really change the history of MSU. That probably would be good for Ole Miss also, as it would let them dominate north mississippi.

I've wasted countless hours thinking about this sort of thing. The Coast may have worked, but I still think Meridian was best of all worlds. Still had a tie to North MS, interstate ride to Jackson, interstate ride to B'ham, and proximity to the Coast/Mobile. Auburn dominates the FL coast, so I don't really think not being on the MS coast would be too much of a problem. And being 'Meridian' would help in recruiting AL kids, similar to how Auburn/Clemson recruit Georgia. It's almost an instate school to them.

I've also heard people say we should have been in Jackson, but I don't like that idea. I like having a separate town for the college.

[RBritt]

Gary Ervin blowing the Duke game.
Tyson Lee qb sneak.
The Kentucky games 2010, I would have ripped the refs a new one and ended the press conference by saying," please Effin fine me you chicken Shiite commissioner.
Pay Cam. We would have ran the table with him that year. So much nfl talent on that team.
Demarcus getting that bunt down last year and we win game 1 against UCLA.
2011 Football year, challenge the Ballard td at Auburn. Relf bulldoze in at the 1. Put Banks on Jeffries against USC. 8-4 that year then.

[Todd4State]

I would without question change the re-hiring of Ron Polk in 2001.

I think you could make a legitimate argument that that one single decision was the worst hire in MSU history. It set our program back 10 years, and it greatly helped Ole Miss and USM. And it was a horrible time to make the move because of how the SEC was starting to assert itself in baseball and move forward- and that move pretty much said "we're staying status quo". Horrible foresight, horrible insight into the current conditions of college baseball, the SEC and baseball in Mississippi. The ONLY way it would have worked is if we had a set-up like Texas has with Augie Garrido where the assistants truly run the program and Polk would have essentially been a figurehead.

If we hire Paul Manieri, we probably go forward as a program, and a lot of the things we are talking about now- like building a new stadium- probably would have happened already. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a NC banner had we made that move as well.

Having Stephen Head, Zach Cozart, Mark Holliman, Logan Power, and even guys like Louis Coleman, Todd MacInnis, and Brian Dozier would have made our past 10-15 years drastically different and it would have made Ole Miss and USM's past 10-15 drastically different as well. And it's on so many levels- maybe Matt Lea doesn't get hurt if it's Butch instead of Russ McNickle. Cliff Godwin started coaching under Paul Manieri at LSU- maybe he's at MSU under Manieri and Ole Miss won't hire him because he's a MSU guy.

And without a doubt the fanbase doesn't get split like it did when we hired Cohen, causing him to fight that for the first 3-5 years of his career until we went to Omaha. Although that did provide some hilarious moments like Steve Gendron on twitter trying to call Cohen overrated because he's never swept LSU in Baton Rouge or something like that.

[Todd4State]

I've wasted countless hours thinking about this sort of thing. The Coast may have worked, but I still think Meridian was best of all worlds. Still had a tie to North MS, interstate ride to Jackson, interstate ride to B'ham, and proximity to the Coast/Mobile. Auburn dominates the FL coast, so I don't really think not being on the MS coast would be too much of a problem. And being 'Meridian' would help in recruiting AL kids, similar to how Auburn/Clemson recruit Georgia. It's almost an instate school to them.

I've also heard people say we should have been in Jackson, but I don't like that idea. I like having a separate town for the college.

From a sports perspective, if we were in Jackson we would probably have a football tailgating situation a lot like NC State's or Kentucky. And from a University perspective, having to deal with Jackson in general would be a pain in the ass.

[Coach34]

Ignoring the fact that there's a good chance I would have ended up somewhere else if MSU wasn't in Starkville, if we were going to pick a different location, the Coast would make more sense than Meridian. That would have put us in position to dominate the Coast, hattiesburg, and meridian, split with Jackson like we currently do, and also give us New Orleans and Mobile to draw from. It would probably have resulted in a bigger difference in the culture of the school compared to a move to Meridian, but would at least give the opportunity to really change the history of MSU. That probably would be good for Ole Miss also, as it would let them dominate north mississippi.

Meridian was all about the railroad in the 1880's- when the school was started. And the RR would have been huge to an Ag school then. Meridian would have been a much better place than Starkville to put MSU. If the school had been put in Meridian or Jackson- it would be the dominent school in Mississippi and we would own a couple of NC's