The Egg Bowl History

The Egg Bowl is the rivalry between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the University of Mississippi(Ole Miss) Rebels for football. It is played on Thanksgiving Day and it is one of the most famous games in the NCAA and SEC. Ole Miss has the overall lead in the series 64-45-6. The last time MSU has won this was in 2019 after the rebels failed to score a field goal to end the game in the 4th quarter. The first meeting was on October 28, 1901 back when MSU was the Mississippi A&M Aggies. Mississippi State won the first meeting in 1901 with a score of 17-0 and had a winning streak from 1911-1925. The game is mostly held in Starkville and Oxford but it has been played in Greenwood, Jackson, and even Columbus and Tupelo.

The trophy of the Egg Bowl game that is mentioned above, wasn’t introduced until 1927 with Ole Miss winning the inaugural egg bowl trophy in that year. 5 games in the series were either forfeited or vacated due to issues with the campus or opposing campus location. The 2014 egg bowl is a very special event because this was a part of the SEC Playoffs with MSU being #4 in the national rankings. The game this year was one of the greatest games that came very close to going into Overtime. The 2022 egg bowl winner went to the MSU Bulldogs after a 24-22 Upset over #20 Ole Miss and moving MSU at #25 in the poll rankings.

The location of the game depends on the year it is. Odd-numbered years will be at MSU and even-numbered years are at least played at Ole Miss. They are played in the stadiums of Ole Miss(Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) and MSU(Davis Wade Stadium). The game used to be played at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson until 1991. Now it is used as the home site of the Jackson State University Jaguars football home stadium. The 1904 game was played in Columbus, MS with the Mississippi and West Alabama Fairgrounds splitting part of the fairgrounds in order to have the game played for the first time off campus. Tupelo hosted in 1915-1917 but the site of the game is unknown. Clarksdale hosted the 1919 game but the 1920 and 1921 games were played in Greenwood before going back to Jackson until 1926 when the game was played in Starkville.

The game this year was already mentioned in parts of the article but the next game will be in Starkville. Both of these teams have had issues before the game was even played, most recently in 2018 when Mississippi State vacated the game due to academic misconduct involving 10 football players and both a former part-time tutor and an online chemistry teacher.MSU also had to forfeit the 2012 and 2014 games but the reasons are uncertain. The game has had only one game go into overtime with the 2013 MSU bulldogs claiming victory 17-10 in just one overtime.