Every win we've ever had over a team that finished ranked

[Quaoarsking]

This is based on the AP Poll, which goes back to 1936. So it won't include a game like the 1935 win over Army, which would likely be on it if the poll existed then. Also, it's based on the final AP Poll, rather than where a team was ranked at the time we played them, since we shouldn't get credit for a win over a team that turned out bad, and we should get credit for a team that turned out to be good, even if the voters didn't realize it at the time.

I'm also going to ignore forfeited/vacated games in either direction and rely solely on the results on the field. Tyler and Moorhead get credit for wins that we no longer claim; Sherril doesn't get a win that Alabama forfeited to us.

1941, #20 Alabama, Allyn McKeen
1941, #17 Ole Miss, Allyn McKeen
1942, #16 Auburn, Allyn McKeen
1945, #15 LSU, Allyn McKeen
1950, #4 Tennesssee, Arthur Morton
1952, #20 Kentucky, Murray Warmath
1957, #17 Florida, Wade Walker
1958, #18 Florida, Wade Walker
1963, #5 Auburn, Paul Davis
1970, #20 Ole Miss, Charles Shira
1976, #18 Kentucky, Bob Tyler
1977, #10 Washington, Bob Tyler
1980, #18 Miami (FL), Emory Bellard
1980, #6 Alabama, Emory Bellard
1982, #11 LSU, Emory Bellard
1984, #15 LSU, Emory Bellard
1992, #10 Florida, Jackie Sherrill
1994, #22 Tennesssee, Jackie Sherrill
1996, #11 Alabama, Jackie Sherrill
1997, #11 Auburn, Jackie Sherrill
1998, #16 Arkansas, Jackie Sherrill
1999, #22 Ole Miss, Jackie Sherrill
2000, #10 Florida, Jackie Sherrill
2000, #18 Auburn, Jackie Sherrill
2007, #15 Auburn, Sylvester Croom
2009, #20 Ole Miss, Dan Mullen
2014, #22 Auburn, Dan Mullen
2017, #18 LSU, Dan Mullen
2018, #16 Texas A&M, Joe Moorhead
2021, #20 NC State, Mike Leach
2021, #18 Kentucky, Mike Leach

We only have 4 seasons where we got more than one in a season:
2 - 1941, 1980, 2000, 2021

And by coach, sorted by percentage of games coached that were wins over ranked teams:
2/24 (8.3%) - Mike Leach
1/19 (5.3%) - Murray Warmath
8/152 (5.3%) - Jackie Sherrill
4/79 (5.1%) - Emory Bellard
4/87 (4.6%) - Allyn McKeen
1/26 (3.8%) - Joe Moorhead
1/27 (3.7%) - Arthur Morton
2/56 (3.6%) - Wade Walker
2/67 (3.0%) - Bob Tyler
3/115 (2.6%) - Dan Mullen
1/50 (2.0%) - Paul Davis
1/59 (1.7%) - Sylvester Croom
1/63 (1.6%) - Charles Shira

[Catfish]

This is based on the AP Poll, which goes back to 1936. So it won't include a game like the 1935 win over Army, which would likely be on it if the poll existed then. Also, it's based on the final AP Poll, rather than where a team was ranked at the time we played them, since we shouldn't get credit for a win over a team that turned out bad, and we should get credit for a team that turned out to be good, even if the voters didn't realize it at the time.

I'm also going to ignore forfeited/vacated games in either direction and rely solely on the results on the field. Tyler and Moorhead get credit for wins that we no longer claim; Sherril doesn't get a win that Alabama forfeited to us.

1941, #20 Alabama, Allyn McKeen
1941, #17 Ole Miss, Allyn McKeen
1942, #16 Auburn, Allyn McKeen
1945, #15 LSU, Allyn McKeen
1950, #4 Tennesssee, Arthur Morton
1952, #20 Kentucky, Murray Warmath
1957, #17 Florida, Wade Walker
1958, #18 Florida, Wade Walker
1963, #5 Auburn, Paul Davis
1970, #20 Ole Miss, Charles Shira
1976, #18 Kentucky, Bob Tyler
1977, #10 Washington, Bob Tyler
1980, #18 Miami (FL), Emory Bellard
1980, #6 Alabama, Emory Bellard
1982, #11 LSU, Emory Bellard
1984, #15 LSU, Emory Bellard
1992, #10 Florida, Jackie Sherrill
1994, #22 Tennesssee, Jackie Sherrill
1996, #11 Alabama, Jackie Sherrill
1997, #11 Auburn, Jackie Sherrill
1998, #16 Arkansas, Jackie Sherrill
1999, #22 Ole Miss, Jackie Sherrill
2000, #10 Florida, Jackie Sherrill
2000, #18 Auburn, Jackie Sherrill
2007, #15 Auburn, Sylvester Croom
2009, #20 Ole Miss, Dan Mullen
2014, #22 Auburn, Dan Mullen
2017, #18 LSU, Dan Mullen
2018, #16 Texas A&M, Joe Moorhead
2021, #20 NC State, Mike Leach
2021, #18 Kentucky, Mike Leach

We only have 4 seasons where we got more than one in a season:
2 - 1941, 1980, 2000, 2021

And by coach, sorted by percentage of games coached that were wins over ranked teams:
2/24 (8.3%) - Mike Leach
1/19 (5.3%) - Murray Warmath
8/152 (5.3%) - Jackie Sherrill
4/79 (5.1%) - Emory Bellard
4/87 (4.6%) - Allyn McKeen
1/26 (3.8%) - Joe Moorhead
1/27 (3.7%) - Arthur Morton
2/56 (3.6%) - Wade Walker
2/67 (3.0%) - Bob Tyler
3/115 (2.6%) - Dan Mullen
1/50 (2.0%) - Paul Davis
1/59 (1.7%) - Sylvester Croom
1/63 (1.6%) - Charles Shira

Thanks for doing this, great post.

[Turfdawg67]

TAM didn't finish ranked this year?

[BrunswickDawg]

Not to throw work on you, but I wonder how this also compares to losses to teams that ended up ranked by the AP. Figure we average 2 L's a season?

[BrunswickDawg]

TAM didn't finish ranked this year?

That's their reward for pussing out of the bowl game.

[Quaoarsking]

TAM didn't finish ranked this year?

No, and it ruined my plans to point out how Leach equaled Mullen's career total in just this year. They were first team out.

[TALL DAWG]

No, and it ruined my plans to point out how Leach equaled Mullen's career total in just this year. They were first team out.

Good work on the list but to make it sizzle more why not place the rankings by the teams on the day we beat them.
I was at the 1980 Bama game and they were #1 then?:)

[MadDawg]

No, and it ruined my plans to point out how Leach equaled Mullen's career total in just this year. They were first team out.

Yeah, not so easy to do. Any non top-25 team is not going to finish the season with a lot of top 25 wins. Kind of the point.

[sleepy dawg]

Not to throw work on you, but I wonder how this also compares to losses to teams that ended up ranked by the AP. Figure we average 2 L's a season?

I know in 2014 all 3 losses were to ranked teams. We also had 3 wins vs ranked teams at the time we played them, but by end of season, only Auburn was still ranked.

[PGHBulldogBG]

Until Leach gets us to at least a NY6 game I don?t care how many ranked teams he beats. We also lost to a terrible Memphis team and bad LSU/Tx Tech teams. This is not to discredit his UK, NC State and TAMU wins. Those were solid wins along with Auburn on the road even though Auburn was bad. Once he gets us to a NY6 bowl I am all about comparing him to Mullen, but at this time it?s a pointless comparison. I do like the stats though and even though it?s said then 2018 aTm game it appears in record books like winsipedia they are still counting the win for us

[R2Dawg]

Until Leach gets us to at least a NY6 game I don?t care how many ranked teams he beats. We also lost to a terrible Memphis team and bad LSU/Tx Tech teams. This is not to discredit his UK, NC State and TAMU wins. Those were solid wins along with Auburn on the road even though Auburn was bad. Once he gets us to a NY6 bowl I am all about comparing him to Mullen, but at this time it?s a pointless comparison. I do like the stats though and even though it?s said then 2018 aTm game it appears in record books like winsipedia they are still counting the win for us

Agree. I've said before, we did some better things this year but again we only really had 4 good games all year. We have not arrived and much work to do. We won some games we played crappy in and I don't think we played more than 2-3 quarters all year. Gotta fix that.

[Homedawg]

By where they finish is crazy. Cause if you lose to them, it's more likely they are ranked. See a&m had we lost to them, they would have been in the top 25. Base it on when you play them.

[deltadawg63]

By where they finish is crazy. Cause if you lose to them, it's more likely they are ranked. See a&m had we lost to them, they would have been in the top 25. Base it on when you play them.

In general, Mullen has been held on a high pedestal and I have held him there too. He did reach a modern day pinnacle in October, 2014. However, a lot of this high perception of Mullen is because he followed coaches who had lost miserably (Sherrill in the end and Croom throughout) and the fan base was so low in expectation as well (I was). Mullen raised the floor of the fan base a lot! So those who followed him have had shorter leashes for sure. Moorhead would still be here if not for lack of team/locker room management. So let's not be so hard on Leach! (as I have to remind myself of this too!)

[Todd4State]

Until Leach gets us to at least a NY6 game I don?t care how many ranked teams he beats. We also lost to a terrible Memphis team and bad LSU/Tx Tech teams. This is not to discredit his UK, NC State and TAMU wins. Those were solid wins along with Auburn on the road even though Auburn was bad. Once he gets us to a NY6 bowl I am all about comparing him to Mullen, but at this time it?s a pointless comparison. I do like the stats though and even though it?s said then 2018 aTm game it appears in record books like winsipedia they are still counting the win for us

I'm holding that Memphis loss on the officials than MSU. No one knew we were going to be COVID ravaged going into the Liberty Bowl either.

[Todd4State]

Really good info! I love the research. I think I was in attendance at most of those games post 1991.

[Catfish]

In general, Mullen has been held on a high pedestal and I have held him there too. He did reach a modern day pinnacle in October, 2014. However, a lot of this high perception of Mullen is because he followed coaches who had lost miserably (Sherrill in the end and Croom throughout) and the fan base was so low in expectation as well (I was). Mullen raised the floor of the fan base a lot! So those who followed him have had shorter leashes for sure. Moorhead would still be here if not for lack of team/locker room management. So let's not be so hard on Leach! (as I have to remind myself of this too!)

Rep!

[Quaoarsking]

By where they finish is crazy. Cause if you lose to them, it's more likely they are ranked. See a&m had we lost to them, they would have been in the top 25. Base it on when you play them.

Where they are at the time is much worse. Vanderbilt 2008 and LSU 2020 were bad teams that were not top 25 quality. The voters realized it by the end of the year.

You also see the opposite. We should get credit for beating Auburn in 2007, even though they happened not to be ranked that week.

[Dawgtini]

Delete - saw the answer down the thread

[OLJWales]

Excellent work as usual Q; thank you sir. I'm thinking with Mullen last year we woulda traded a couple of those Leach wins in exchange for the Memphis& LSU games within no La Tech drama either.

[Commercecomet24]

By where they finish is crazy. Cause if you lose to them, it's more likely they are ranked. See a&m had we lost to them, they would have been in the top 25. Base it on when you play them.

Yes, THIS!

[Commercecomet24]

In general, Mullen has been held on a high pedestal and I have held him there too. He did reach a modern day pinnacle in October, 2014. However, a lot of this high perception of Mullen is because he followed coaches who had lost miserably (Sherrill in the end and Croom throughout) and the fan base was so low in expectation as well (I was). Mullen raised the floor of the fan base a lot! So those who followed him have had shorter leashes for sure. Moorhead would still be here if not for lack of team/locker room management. So let's not be so hard on Leach! (as I have to remind myself of this too!)

This is true. Rep Given.

[PGHBulldogBG]

I'm holding that Memphis loss on the officials than MSU. No one knew we were going to be COVID ravaged going into the Liberty Bowl either.

Good point. I am not one to blame refs for a loss but that was atrocious. It might go down as the worst officiated game I have ever witnessed State play. I was really mad at Leach for not kicking that field goal when we got the INT to start the 3rd quarter, but now that I know how bad our kicking situation was I don?t really fault him for that now

[Quaoarsking]

Actually I can see the argument of counting a win over a team that would have been ranked if we had beaten them, but how can we possibly know? Texas A&M this year is surely an example, but what about A&M in 2014 and 2016? Probably?

I am definitely sticking to my guns about not giving credit for a team that was ranked at the time but turned out to be bad. Should Sam Pittman get credit for beating us on 2020, a year we finished 4-7, but the other 6 coaches who beat us that year not get credit?

[Maroonthirteen]

Mullen is the best coach in MSU football history. Mullen's won/loss record speaks for itself regardless where the opponent finished the season. Also, MSU now has more players in the NFL ever because of Mullen and company. I don't understand the need to belittle what Mullen did here.

It seems people want to belittle Mullen to excuse Leach's meager results so far. However, frame up the current situation how ever you want. Fact remains Mullen was extremely good at MSU. It remains to be seen what comes of the Leach era.

[BrunswickDawg]

Mullen is the best coach in MSU football history. Mullen's won/loss record speaks for itself regardless where the opponent finished the season. Also, MSU now has more players in the NFL ever because of Mullen and company. I don't understand the need to belittle what Mullen did here.

It seems people want to belittle Mullen to excuse Leach's meager results so far. However, frame up the current situation how ever you want. Fact remains Mullen was extremely good at MSU. It remains to be seen what comes of the Leach era.

I haven't seen anyone belittling Mullen. Calling out facts and trends is not belittling - its called analysis. As you stated, by wins and loses, Mullen is arguably our best coach ever. However, it is also a fact that Mullen was not as good as Jackie against teams that finished the season ranked. Mullen's player development is born out by the number of guys in the league. Mullen's lack luster recruiting style has been shown to have inhibited us and UF - and there are many factual examples.

[Cooterpoot]

Doing it by where they finished is to purposely take a shot at someone. Wonder who? Nevermind Dan beat what? 3 top 10 teams in back to back weeks in '14 I think??

[BrunswickDawg]

Doing it by where they finished is to purposely take a shot at someone. Wonder who? Nevermind Dan beat what? 3 top 10 teams in back to back weeks in '14 I think??

People on this board were discounting the '14 season within the year because Auburn, A&M and LSU all ended up "having down seasons". People have posted the same about JoMo's win against #8 Auburn in 2018 before the season was even over.
Personally, I've always gone by the "ranked at time of game" approach - mainly because it helps perceptions about the program. Which sounds better for us? "Jackie's first season in '91 was highlighted by a nationally televised win over #13 Texas", or "Jackie's first season was highlighted by a close, early season battle against a Texas team that wound up 5-6"?

I'm not going to knock the OP for presenting facts - how you use it to make an analysis is up to the reader.

[Quaoarsking]

Doing it by where they finished is to purposely take a shot at someone. Wonder who? Nevermind Dan beat what? 3 top 10 teams in back to back weeks in '14 I think??

Are you really suggesting that I of all people am trying to belittle Dan Mullen??

[Quaoarsking]

People on this board were discounting the '14 season within the year because Auburn, A&M and LSU all ended up "having down seasons". People have posted the same about JoMo's win against #8 Auburn in 2018 before the season was even over.
Personally, I've always gone by the "ranked at time of game" approach - mainly because it helps perceptions about the program. Which sounds better for us? "Jackie's first season in '91 was highlighted by a nationally televised win over #13 Texas", or "Jackie's first season was highlighted by a close, early season battle against a Texas team that wound up 5-6"?

I'm not going to knock the OP for presenting facts - how you use it to make an analysis is up to the reader.
It works both ways. What about 2007 Auburn? Why shouldn't Croom get credit, simply because the voters didn't realize Auburn was top 25 in that particular week? We knew by the end of the year that Auburn was a top 25 team.

Ultimately, I want to credit wins over teams that really were good, not based on how they seemed the time. Also, its important that everybody who beat a particular team that year all get credit or none, rather than some get it and some don't based on scheduling quirks. See the example about us last year being ranked for 1 week.

[BrunswickDawg]

It works both ways. What about 2007 Auburn? Why shouldn't Croom get credit, simply because the voters didn't realize Auburn was top 25 in that particular week? We knew by the end of the year that Auburn was a top 25 team.

Ultimately, I want to credit wins over teams that really were good, not based on how they seemed the time. Also, its important that everybody who beat a particular team that year all get credit or none, rather than some get it and some don't based on scheduling quirks. See the example about us last year being ranked for 1 week.

It's one of those times where probably any other fanbase would say "Count both" and trumpet winning 2007 Auburn and 2014 Auburn both as Top 25 wins. But, oh no, not us. LOL

[Quaoarsking]

It's one of those times where probably any other fanbase would say "Count both" and trumpet winning 2007 Auburn and 2014 Auburn both as Top 25 wins. But, oh no, not us. LOL

Does/should Arkansas count their win over us in 2020 as a ranked win?

What about Auburn in 2010?

[BrunswickDawg]

Does/should Arkansas count their win over us in 2020 as a ranked win?

What about Auburn in 2010?

I don't really care. My point is there is a whole lot of time spent arguing negative points in the MSU fanbase when a school like Ole Miss would would claim both and try to make some other ranking relevant to add to it, then somehow get ESPN to recognize that stat only when talking about Ole Miss, then have Greg McIlroy state it every 4 minutes during their games for the next 2 seasons.

[Commercecomet24]

I don't really care. My point is there is a whole lot of time spent arguing negative points in the MSU fanbase when a school like Ole Miss would would claim both and try to make some other ranking relevant to add to it, then somehow get ESPN to recognize that stat only when talking about Ole Miss, then have Greg McIlroy state it every 4 minutes during their games for the next 2 seasons.

Brunswick you get it. It seems like when we beat someone good or do something good a lot of our fanbase downplays it like "well they weren't very good this year" or "MSU just got lucky", when conversely om trumpets every little thing they do(no matter how irrelevant)as spectacular.

[OLJWales]

I don't really care. My point is there is a whole lot of time spent arguing negative points in the MSU fanbase when a school like Ole Miss would would claim both and try to make some other ranking relevant to add to it, then somehow get ESPN to recognize that stat only when talking about Ole Miss, then have Greg McIlroy state it every 4 minutes during their games for the next 2 seasons.

Bolchevism Prevents Rep.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I'm holding that Memphis loss on the officials than MSU. No one knew we were going to be COVID ravaged going into the Liberty Bowl either.

We were losing when the refs messed up.

[Turfdawg67]

It works both ways. What about 2007 Auburn? Why shouldn't Croom get credit, simply because the voters didn't realize Auburn was top 25 in that particular week? We knew by the end of the year that Auburn was a top 25 team.

Ultimately, I want to credit wins over teams that really were good, not based on how they seemed the time. Also, its important that everybody who beat a particular team that year all get credit or none, rather than some get it and some don't based on scheduling quirks. See the example about us last year being ranked for 1 week.

How about this, count them if they finish above .500 and don't if they finish under. A 7-5 LSU team probably would have ended up ranked, at 8-4, but thanks to our loss, they didn't.


Brunswick you get it. It seems like when we beat someone good or do something good a lot of our fanbase downplays it like "well they weren't very good this year" or "MSU just got lucky", when conversely om trumpets every little thing they do(no matter how irrelevant)as spectacular.

True dat.

[RiverCityDawg]

How about this, count them if they finish above .500 and don't if they finish under. A 7-5 LSU team probably would have ended up ranked, at 8-4, but thanks to our loss, they didn't.



True dat.

I like was Q has done here, but wins over .500 or better teams would be interesting. As would wins over teams ranked at the time. I think all three perspectives have value, just different approaches.

[DeltaSwamp]

This is based on the AP Poll, which goes back to 1936. So it won't include a game like the 1935 win over Army, which would likely be on it if the poll existed then. Also, it's based on the final AP Poll, rather than where a team was ranked at the time we played them, since we shouldn't get credit for a win over a team that turned out bad, and we should get credit for a team that turned out to be good, even if the voters didn't realize it at the time.

I'm also going to ignore forfeited/vacated games in either direction and rely solely on the results on the field. Tyler and Moorhead get credit for wins that we no longer claim; Sherril doesn't get a win that Alabama forfeited to us.

1941, #20 Alabama, Allyn McKeen
1941, #17 Ole Miss, Allyn McKeen
1942, #16 Auburn, Allyn McKeen
1945, #15 LSU, Allyn McKeen
1950, #4 Tennesssee, Arthur Morton
1952, #20 Kentucky, Murray Warmath
1957, #17 Florida, Wade Walker
1958, #18 Florida, Wade Walker
1963, #5 Auburn, Paul Davis
1970, #20 Ole Miss, Charles Shira
1976, #18 Kentucky, Bob Tyler
1977, #10 Washington, Bob Tyler
1980, #18 Miami (FL), Emory Bellard
1980, #6 Alabama, Emory Bellard
1982, #11 LSU, Emory Bellard
1984, #15 LSU, Emory Bellard
1992, #10 Florida, Jackie Sherrill
1994, #22 Tennesssee, Jackie Sherrill
1996, #11 Alabama, Jackie Sherrill
1997, #11 Auburn, Jackie Sherrill
1998, #16 Arkansas, Jackie Sherrill
1999, #22 Ole Miss, Jackie Sherrill
2000, #10 Florida, Jackie Sherrill
2000, #18 Auburn, Jackie Sherrill
2007, #15 Auburn, Sylvester Croom
2009, #20 Ole Miss, Dan Mullen
2014, #22 Auburn, Dan Mullen
2017, #18 LSU, Dan Mullen
2018, #16 Texas A&M, Joe Moorhead
2021, #20 NC State, Mike Leach
2021, #18 Kentucky, Mike Leach

We only have 4 seasons where we got more than one in a season:
2 - 1941, 1980, 2000, 2021

And by coach, sorted by percentage of games coached that were wins over ranked teams:
2/24 (8.3%) - Mike Leach
1/19 (5.3%) - Murray Warmath
8/152 (5.3%) - Jackie Sherrill
4/79 (5.1%) - Emory Bellard
4/87 (4.6%) - Allyn McKeen
1/26 (3.8%) - Joe Moorhead
1/27 (3.7%) - Arthur Morton
2/56 (3.6%) - Wade Walker
2/67 (3.0%) - Bob Tyler
3/115 (2.6%) - Dan Mullen
1/50 (2.0%) - Paul Davis
1/59 (1.7%) - Sylvester Croom
1/63 (1.6%) - Charles Shira

Great reminder that Mullen was not a great coach

[sleepy dawg]

Great reminder that Mullen was not a great coach

If this is your justification for that, then I assume you have no issues saying that Mike Leach is by far the best coach in MSU history?

[DeltaSwamp]

If this is your justification for that, then I assume you have no issues saying that Mike Leach is by far the best coach in MSU history?

LOL you can gtfoh with that. Obviously not going to say that after two years. Trying to twist stuff.

If he sticks around and has 100+ games like this like Mullen and Sherrill, we'll talk again then

[Lord McBuckethead]

Good work on the list but to make it sizzle more why not place the rankings by the teams on the day we beat them.
I was at the 1980 Bama game and they were #1 then?:)

Exactly. When we played, we beat them as the number 1. Surely since they lost to us they dropped, but at the moment we played, we beat them. That is how I count it. It is the only way to make sense of it all. Take our win against aTm off of their record and they are ranked.

[Commercecomet24]

Exactly. When we played, we beat them as the number 1. Surely since they lost to us they dropped, but at the moment we played, we beat them. That is how I count it. It is the only way to make sense of it all. Take our win against aTm off of their record and they are ranked.

Yes,That' the way I've always looked at it as well

[The Federalist Engineer]

Mullen is the best coach in MSU football history. Mullen's won/loss record speaks for itself regardless where the opponent finished the season. Also, MSU now has more players in the NFL ever because of Mullen and company. I don't understand the need to belittle what Mullen did here.

It seems people want to belittle Mullen to excuse Leach's meager results so far. However, frame up the current situation how ever you want. Fact remains Mullen was extremely good at MSU. It remains to be seen what comes of the Leach era.

Mullen got MSU to #1 in the Nation. Other than those two National Titles in the 1940's, what is the highest interseason rank for any other coach? Mullen touched single digits in at least 2 seasons. Jackie, at least once.

https://gray-wlox-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/AcH61CjhkfDrR_LCZk18lAA_Jmc=/800x1200/smart/filters:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/3VKJWV5CRVDIJPLR3QKJTICPDU.jpg

[OLJWales]

2014 gave me an euphoria never felt. That year I traveled to Vegas from Mempho to AU & FL games under Jackie was # 2.. Neither season finished well unless memory fails.