Points of Pride
Athletics
Mississippi State student athletes posted a 79 percent graduation success rate over the four year period beginning in 2001, according to the NCAA. The 79 percent marks the fourth-highest success rate in the Southeastern Conference.
The NCAA-record postseason baseball attendance at Dudy Noble Field was rated by Rivals.com as the 2007 top story of the NCAA Super Regionals in a season-ending review by the Internet-based publication. Despite drawing 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday start times, the Mississippi State-Clemson games drew 26,335 at Dudy Noble Field. The series-opener, the first NCAA Super Regional game on the MSU campus, drew an NCAA Super Regional-record 12,620 fans. A day later, MSU fans re-set the Super Regional attendance record when 13,715 fans packed the Bulldogs' home facility as MSU completed a two-game series sweep to advance to its eighth appearance in the prestigious NCAA College World Series.
The men's basketball Bulldogs won the 2009 Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship in March. Including 2010-11, the Bulldogs have claimed the SEC Western Division crown five times in 12 seasons.
All of MSU's 16 varsity sports exceeded the NCAA's baseline Academic Progress Rate for the 2009-10 academic year. Fifteen of the 16 improved upon or remained constant from their previous four-year ratio.
The MSU men's tennis team registered a 3.85 GPA in the fall of 2010, the highest cumulative GPA by any MSU sports team ever in one semester.
Mississippi State's men and women athletes finished the 2009 fall semester with an aggregate 2.99 grade-point average, the highest combined mark in school history. Men's sport programs posted a 2.84 GPA for the term, its highest, while the women's program averaged a 3.20 classroom mark. Overall, 76 scholarship student-athletes made either the Dean's Scholar (3.5) or President's Scholar (3.8) list. In addition, 152 of the 282 scholarship student-athletes (53.9 percent) recorded a 3.0 GPA or better during that fall.
Mississippi State women's basketball coach Sharon Fanning-Otis and the 2009-10 Lady Bulldogs turned in the most successful season in school history with a final record of 21-13 and a Sweet 16 run in the team's sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
In the final event of the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Bulldog 4x100 team of Tavaris Tate, Dwight Mullings, O'Neal Wilder and Emanuel Mayers finished second in the with a time of 3:01.66, the second fastest in school history. This helped lift the team to a final ranking of 17 for the second consecutive season.
MSU's men's tennis team made its 20th NCAA appearance in 2011 while also claiming the Southeastern Conference Western Division title for the first time since the league went to divisions in 2002. State finished the season ranked 20th nationally. Head coach Per Nilsson was named SEC Coach of the Year and Bulldog Malte Stropp was named SEC Freshman of the Year.
Mississippi State's Diamond Dogs competed in the College World Series for the eighth time in school history in 2007. The Bulldogs last played on college baseball's biggest stage after the 1998 season. In 2011, State returned to NCAA Super Regional play, missing a return trip to Omaha by just one game during an exciting postseason run to the Super Regional in Gainesville, Fla.
Mississippi State has 69 student-athletes named on the 2011 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll. SEC Academic Honor Roll requires student-athletes to have compiled a grade point average of 3.00 or better for the preceding academic year or have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00.
Bulldog center Jarvis Varnado capped off a stellar MSU basketball career in 2010, earning SEC and NCAA defensive player of the year awards after becoming the NCAA's all-time leading shot blocker and concluding his collegiate career with 564 blocks. He also became the first player in the history of college basketball to score 1,000 points, total 1,000 rebounds and block 500 shots.
In their second year under head coach Dan Mullen, the Bulldogs took command of the gridiron to turn in a 9-4 record and a Gator Bowl win, ending the season ranked 15th in the AP poll and 17th in the USA Today Coaches poll. The 52-14 win over the University of Michigan marked the team's first nine-win season since 1999 when the State finished 10-2 including a Peach Bowl win over Clemson on their way to a #12 national ranking.
Mississippi State women's basketball coach Sharon Fanning-Otis and the 2009-10 Lady Bulldogs turned in the most successful season in school history with a final record of 21-13 and a Sweet 16 run in the team's sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
In the second year under head coach Dan Mullen, the Bulldogs took command of the gridiron to turn in a 9-4 record and a Gator Bowl win, ending the season ranked 15th in the AP poll and 17th in the USA Today Coaches poll. The 52-14 win over the University of Michigan marked the team's first nine-win season since 1999 when the State finished 10-2 including a Peach Bowl win over Clemson on their way to a number 12 end-of-season rank.
Bulldog center Jarvis Varnado capped off a stellar MSU basketball career in 2010, earning SEC and NCAA defensive player of the year awards after becoming the NCAA's all-time leading shot blocker and concluding his collegiate career with 564 blocks. He also became the first player in the history of college basketball to score 1,000 points, total 1,000 rebounds and block 500 shots.
In the final event of the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Bulldog 4x100 team of Tavaris Tate, Dwight Mullings, O'Neal Wilder and Emanuel Mayers finished second in the with a time of 3:01.66, the second fastest in school history. This helped lift the team to a final ranking of 17 for the second consecutive season.
Mississippi State has 61 student-athletes named on the 2010 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll. SEC Academic Honor Roll requires student-athletes to have compiled a grade point average of 3.00 or better for the preceding academic year or have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00.
Nine Mississippi State University softball team members were included in the Southeastern Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll. Team members Chelsea Bramlett, Jessie Bailey, Ali Bainbridge, Misty Flesher, Courtney Nesbit, Jessie Spain, Allie Heon, Elizabeth Woolven, and Ka'ili Smith were all named to the SEC Academic Honor roll for Spring 2010.
The men's basketball Bulldogs won the 2009 Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship in March. Mississippi State's Diamond Dogs competed in the College World Series for the eighth time in school history in 2007. The Bulldogs last played on college baseball's biggest stage after the 1998 season.
