This is a conspiracy theory from my parents that I was told when I was a child and may or may not be true. But certainly their opinion and there is maybe something to it.

Anyway in their opinion- and obviously they have held this opinion for years now- one of the reasons that MSU doesn't have a National Title or seem to get calls on the National stage is because of the state flag and the national perception of the state. Now obviously I don't KNOW that to be fact and it's just a theory. But having watched us get royally screwed in Omaha by that umpire against Louisville and then in the Women's National Title Game against Notre Dame it does make me wonder if the flag and the state's image hurt us when we get into those situations.

And then to go beyond that- does it hurt us even in SEC play sometimes- does the SEC really want a school like Ole Miss to be the image of their football empire? For us on a lesser scale does the image of the state and the flag hurt us in sports like football even though we don't glorify the Confederate stuff at MSU because we're in the same state? At the very least I think it affects the perception nationally.

I know that this is about regionals but does the flag hurt MSU as far as attracting potential students to MSU? Maybe a few.

And as a state I think it definitely hurts on a bigger non-MSU level. For example what if Jackson wanted to host a bowl game? You can say all you want about the Vet but it's better than Legion Field which hosts a bowl and I can't say that Shreveport is a lot better. Mobile is not great- you get my point. But I think in part because of the flag Mississippi will never have a bowl game even though I think the potential to have a lower level or HBCU bowl is definitely there and would be good for the city of Jackson as well as the state of Mississippi.

Just some other things to think about.