After reading this I feel sorry for USM. From Clarion Ledger. (LONG POST)
They are going to put a beat down on them.
STARKVILLE ? The temperature hovered around 95 degrees when Mississippi State opened practice on Monday. The field turf pushed the heat index beyond triple-digits. The start of the regular season waited more than a month away, but the Bulldogs had motivation to push through the heat.
Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott thinks the nation will be impressed by the team's wide receivers. Michael Bonner
During many of the drills, they were reminded where the media picked Mississippi State to finish: last in the West.
?I heard it about 10 times (Monday) at practice,? senior Ryan Brown said. ?It?s going to help us. It?s going to motivate us each and every day to just have that hunger. That?s what it?s all about, that hunger.?
Mississippi State debuted the College Football Rankings at No. 1 last year. Returning quarterback Dak Prescott finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Dan Mullen won the Maxwell National Coach of the Year award.
Yet, the media selected Mississippi State to finish seventh in the West and 13th in the Southeastern Conference.
?Honestly, be picked first or last. If you?re picked first, you get real motivation to stay there,? Mullen said. ?If you?re picked last, you?ve got motivation to prove everybody wrong. If you?re picked fourth, you?re kind of like, well they didn?t pick us last.?
Mississippi State opened spring practice in March quieter than it had in 2014. Last year, the Bulldogs knew the nation doubted them. The chips on their collective shoulders were obvious in practice.
Last March, MSU masked its confidence. A 10-3 season spoke for itself, until national pundits began questioning it during the summer and SEC Media Days.
Prescott tweeted ?Preseason Rankings & Predictions #LOL?
He wasn?t the only player to publicly disagree with the predictions.
?I like it. I tweeted it, I like being last,? senior safety Kendrick Market said. ?I ain?t nothing but 5-9. Everybody said that I couldn?t play in the SEC. We?re going to prove them wrong again.?
Market is a perfect example of why prognosticators overlook Mississippi State. The senior will start at safety after every school but MSU thought he couldn?t play in the SEC.
Mississippi State comprises its roster with Kendrick Markets. Benardrick McKinney, who the Houston Texas selected in the second round of last year?s NFL draft, had one SEC offer: Mississippi State.
?I guarantee you history of the program over the last hundred-some years has to do with where we get picked,? Mullen said.
Mississippi State thrived last year as the underdog. As the hunter, MSU upset LSU on the road and beat Texas A&M and Auburn at home. Having the target on their back wasn?t as easy. The Bulldogs endured losses to Alabama and Ole Miss as well as a late-score win against Arkansas.
?It?s harder to stay at No. 1 than it is to get to No. 1,? Prescott said. ?As you?re going through the season you?ve got to give more intensity.?
Someone had to be picked last in the West ? a division where all seven coaches make more than $4 million. Mississippi State drew the short straw because of its history and losing 15 starters.
?I don?t think there?s any team in the West that doesn?t think they can win it. I know every school in the country right now has the coach talk, ?Hey we feel great. We?re going to find a way to win,?? Mullen said. ?I bet if you took a poll in the Big Ten of people, do they think anyone could win the championship in that league? Probably, they?re not going to say that.
?When you look at the SEC West, you probably can make an argument of how every team could win.?
Mississippi State was picked fifth in the West last year. Mullen and his players thought they were picked to finish last.
They used that en-route to a No. 1 ranking, the program?s first 10-win regular season and a trip to the Orange Bowl.
This year they won?t have to misremember the polls. And it?s exactly where they want to be.
?That?s people. They can judge what they see. But it?s all about the stuff that you can?t see,? Brown said. ?That?s what we go by and that?s what we?ll continue to go by.?
