Difference in the two fanbases:

[MadDawg]

Umiss fans claims three national championships in football. Source of much pride.
M-State fans point out that the AP doesn't recognize ANY of them. We laugh at them.

If the scenario were reversed:

M-State fans point out that all our supposed "glory years" were a farce and that anyone claiming a national championship is a moron.
Umiss fans agree and laugh at us.

[aromatherapy]

Both fanbases out to be grateful both schools were charter members of the SEC or both would be like Southern Miss

[Johnson85]

Both fanbases out to be grateful both schools were charter members of the SEC or both would be like Southern Miss

No, State and Ole Miss would dream about being USM if it weren't for the SEC. Both schools were badly mismanaged for a long time and it would have crippled both programs long term without the SEC. We may have ended up in the same place that USM is in now (pretty decent team in a dead end conference without much hope of escape), but we would have gotten there while having much less success.

If UMiss and MSU hadn't been in the SEC, USM would probably also be much stronger, as its' the only public university in the state located in a place that makes sense.

[benbow]

Good topic. There is very clearly a difference in the mentality of the fan bases. Ole Miss takes pride in making the rules. We take pride in being good soldiers by following the rules. They have a knack, no matter how irritating that it is to us, of making themselves look bigger and more important than they are. I used to travel out of state a great deal to meetings that were composed of mostly academic types -- I.e. Folks that ought to know better. Many of them thought Ole Miss had 45,000 or so students and that State was a regional university along the lines of Delta State. Why should we be surprised when we rate down the list in U.S. News and World Report rankings when 22% of the formula is based on "reputation"?

[RocketDawg]

Good topic. There is very clearly a difference in the mentality of the fan bases. Ole Miss takes pride in making the rules. We take pride in being good soldiers by following the rules. They have a knack, no matter how irritating that it is to us, of making themselves look bigger and more important than they are. I used to travel out of state a great deal to meetings that were composed of mostly academic types -- I.e. Folks that ought to know better. Many of them thought Ole Miss had 45,000 or so students and that State was a regional university along the lines of Delta State. Why should we be surprised when we rate down the list in U.S. News and World Report rankings when 22% of the formula is based on "reputation"?

Problem there is that OM doesn't rate any higher than we do on the U.S. News & World Report rating. Last time I looked, we were both Third Tier, which is atrocious. And yes, I know that the Ayers thing is largely to blame. Fortunately, we have the Honors College (and I assume OM has something similar) so your really can get a top notch education at MSU.

[msbulldog]

Read the history of Mississippi State football, before the SEC we were already playing present day SEC teams. Matter of fact were members previous conferences that included several of of the SEC charter members. The problem with Mississippi of all the states represented in the SEC is we have the smallest population with 2 SEC schools recruiting each other.
As far as Southern (teacher college) being better, hell they didn't even get university status until much later than MSU and Mississippi.

[msstatelp1]

I think the differences in the fan bases have as much to do with their beginnings as anything.

OM was founded by plantation owners, planters (who never actually planted anything), and slave holders of the Antebellum South. Image meant everything to them. They would go into extreme depths of debt to keep up with the Jones. Their "all in" attitude comes from wanting to be like the richest among themselves and doing anything necessary to appear as wealthy and to be accepted by such. It still shows in their actions today:

-claiming 3 national titles although no recognized sporting authority of the time gave them any.
-constantly promoting themselves through any means possible to "prove" how great they and their school are.
-and finally, paying huge amounts of money to get recruits and hoping that it will give them the football glory they've never truly had.


MSU was founded by farmers and engineers. Practical men who put achievement and hard work above image. Men that believed that actions speak louder than words. If anything, we have hurt ourselves by not being more vocal about our achievements.

-we have just as much right as Bama or Minnesota to claim a football National Championship in 1941 but we don't because no recognized authority, ie AP or UPI, declared us to be.
-our 1963 basketball team just wanted to compete. They didn't care that it was against an opponent with African Americans on the squad. We know the lengths they went to so that they could.
-we are just now beginning to understand the importance of letting others know how good we are, ie tooting our own horn. We don't claim it unless we can prove it, both on the sports field and in the academic world. We have numerous accomplishments in both that went unheralded due to our reticence.

[JoseBrown]

With all the "systemic racism" in every govornment entity, I'd like to see the history of college football pre-integration go the way of the flag and statues.... Just for UNM though. Then they couldn't claim squat! Lol!!**********************

[Ranchdawg]

I think the differences in the fan bases have as much to do with their beginnings as anything.

OM was founded by plantation owners, planters (who never actually planted anything), and slave holders of the Antebellum South. Image meant everything to them. They would go into extreme depths of debt to keep up with the Jones. Their "all in" attitude comes from wanting to be like the richest among themselves and doing anything necessary to appear as wealthy and to be accepted by such. It still shows in their actions today:

-claiming 3 national titles although no recognized sporting authority of the time gave them any.
-constantly promoting themselves through any means possible to "prove" how great they and their school are.
-and finally, paying huge amounts of money to get recruits and hoping that it will give them the football glory they've never truly had.


MSU was founded by farmers and engineers. Practical men who put achievement and hard work above image. Men that believed that actions speak louder than words. If anything, we have hurt ourselves by not being more vocal about our achievements.

-we have just as much right as Bama or Minnesota to claim a football National Championship in 1941 but we don't because no recognized authority, ie AP or UPI, declared us to be.
-our 1963 basketball team just wanted to compete. They didn't care that it was against an opponent with African Americans on the squad. We know the lengths they went to so that they could.
-we are just now beginning to understand the importance of letting others know how good we are, ie tooting our own horn. We don't claim it unless we can prove it, both on the sports field and in the academic world. We have numerous accomplishments in both that went unheralded due to our reticence.

You pretty much nailed it exactly right. I grew up in North East Jackson, Ms in 60's & 70's. Back then this area of Ms was nothing more than a Ole Miss hot bed. Back then all doctors at then the largest hospitals in this state were Ole Miss grads. Also all lawyers/politicians back then were almost all graduates of Ole Miss and they all strived to live in the fashion of keeping up with the Jones.

Everybody that I grew up with and graduated high school with went to Ole Miss whether they really wanted to or not. For the most part they did not have much choice. If a kid was rebellious and went somewhere else their family would be somewhat shunned socially and was viewed as not supporting "The University"(Ole Miss). When I announced that I was interested engineering and that wanted to attend MSU, friends that I had grown up with all my life thought I was crazy and why in the world would want to go to school there. I didn't have same restrictions that almost everybody I grew up with did, my dad had graduated from MSU and my mother graduated from LSU. For a long time my parents were somewhat shunned socially because of their degrees. This is one reason I hate Ole Miss so much because of their social elitist.

[Corn Bread]

TSUN fans- need I say more. Drop the mic.

[NELA Dawg]

Living in Louisiana I have noticed that they have a polarizing effect. People either like them or hate them. Most hate them. MSU has a neutralizing effect. Most pull for us as long as we are not playing LSU.