Which schools in the past were similar to MSU and became successful

[Quaoarsking]

Kansas State is the best comparison when you look at geography, city size, academic status, and football history. It took them one of the 3 overall best modern football coaches, and they still never could quite win a national title.

[FlabLoser]

Good Lord, you can't be any farther from the truth.

College Station has a population of 97K. So we honestly should stop there. On top of that, they have the entire state of TEXAS to call their 'home state' which aids in recruiting. Texas A&M is Mississippi State on super steroids. They are on the level of Auburn and Clemson from a football perspective.

South Carolina has been hashed out already. Sort of similar tradition but they have more resources.

Miami? Seriously? On top of that, we are 2-3 all-time vs. them, we beat them in 1980 and 1981, two of our best teams ever.

Pretty bad post overall IMO. Not many facts in there.

97k in College Station has to include the 50,000 aTm students. There's not a lot there. I've seen it.

Yeah, Miami. Until the late 80s/early 90s, they were a crap program.

[Will James]

97k in College Station has to include the 50,000 aTm students. There's not a lot there. I've seen it.

Yeah, Miami. Until the late 80s/early 90s, they were a crap program.

I've seen it too, and know that Bryan which is literally beside CS (think MSU being next to Starkville) has another 80K by itself. The area combines for nearly 200K. Bigger than Athens.

As to the Las Vegas comparison, Starkville doesn't hold a candle to CS.

[curmudgeon]

Kansas State has been the most successful program that we could emulate, but the most MSU-like BCS school is Washington State.

Pullman, WA has a population of 24,675, they have another university within 20 miles of them, and a "sexier" in-state brother.
Starkville, MS has a population of 23,888, with another university within 20 miles of it.

Their most successful coach was Mike Price, who went 83-78. Dennis Erickson coached there before going to Miami and winning national championship.

Our most successful coach was Jackie Sherrill (who coached WSU, ironically), who went 75-75. Darrell Royal coached MSU before going to Texas and winning national championship.

Like us, their football success has come in 2-3 year spurts, but they have four Pac 8/10/12 titles - last coming in 2002. All-time record is .488.
MSU has one SEC title and one Divisional title. All-time record is .485

Their biggest win was an upset of the nation's #1 team, UCLA in 1988, where they went to the Aloha Bowl and beat SWC power Houston.
MSU's biggest win was an upset of the nation's #1 team, Alabama in 1980, and they went to the Hall of Fame Bowl and beat Big 8 power Kansas.


They have 10 bowl games (six since 1992), have won most of their minor bowl games (6-4 overall), but are 1-3 in Rose Bowls.
MSU has 17 bowl games (10 since 1991), and we are 10-7 in bowl game history, 1-1 in Orange Bowls.

[Quaoarsking]

Kansas State has been the most successful program that we could emulate, but the most MSU-like BCS school is Washington State.

Pullman, WA has a population of 24,675, they have another university within 20 miles of them, and a "sexier" in-state brother.
Starkville, MS has a population of 23,888, with another university within 20 miles of it.

Their most successful coach was Mike Price, who went 83-78. Dennis Erickson coached there before going to Miami and winning national championship.

Our most successful coach was Jackie Sherrill (who coached WSU, ironically), who went 75-75. Darrell Royal coached MSU before going to Texas and winning national championship.

Like us, their football success has come in 2-3 year spurts, but they have four Pac 8/10/12 titles - last coming in 2002. All-time record is .488.
MSU has one SEC title and one Divisional title. All-time record is .485

Their biggest win was an upset of the nation's #1 team, UCLA in 1988, where they went to the Aloha Bowl and beat SWC power Houston.
MSU's biggest win was an upset of the nation's #1 team, Alabama in 1980, and they went to the Hall of Fame Bowl and beat Big 8 power Kansas.


They have 10 bowl games (six since 1992), have won most of their minor bowl games (6-4 overall), but are 1-3 in Rose Bowls.
MSU has 17 bowl games (10 since 1991), and we are 10-7 in bowl game history, 1-1 in Orange Bowls.

And Washington State currently has a top 10 national coach, and we could probably hire him.

[Goat Holder]

For that matter, so is Oregon State. The State of Washington does, however, have almost 7 million residents. Oregon has 4, but Corvallis is 54K. Either way, both are similar. The trouble for both of them is basically having to go to California to recruit to their locales.

[MidTNDawg]

If you are meaning similar in terms of winning / losing, there are three FL teams that come to mind. FSU, UF, and Miami. I am so old I can recall looking forward to playing Florida. What changed? All three schools got serious about winning, brought in money, then Ad's and coaches, and the rest as they say is history.

[Goat Holder]

Census.gov, interpret it any way you want.

Miami is in no way, shape or form comparable to MSU. Most coaches take the Miami job because it's easy to win. It's like pulling teeth to get coaches to MSU.

[Goat Holder]

Those Florida schools had the ability to do that. They had the population, resources and talent to make it happen. MSU has none of that. We have more talent than some places, but it doesn't compare to Florida.

[BulldogBear]

If you are meaning similar in terms of winning / losing, there are three FL teams that come to mind. FSU, UF, and Miami. I am so old I can recall looking forward to playing Florida. What changed? All three schools got serious about winning, brought in money, then Ad's and coaches, and the rest as they say is history.

In Florida State's case, getting male students also helped

[dawgs]

k state, wazzou, oregon st, baylor, and tx tech are probably the best comparisons. they have some advantages we don't, and we probably have some they don't, but every school isn't just a cookie cutter of each other, there's going to be variables.

[Eric Nies Grind Time]

Why isn't Clemson a good comparison? Clemsons campus was based off of MSU. Similar sized town and university enrollment.

[Goat Holder]

State of SC has almost double the population of MS. And it's two hours away from one of the biggest cities in the country with produces a ton of talent.