It’s Been a Lot More Hit Than Miss for Mississippi State

In the heart of Mississippi, Made by none but God’s own hands, Stately in her natural splendor, Our alma mater proudly stands.

Sixty-six miles south of Tupelo, down at the end of lonely street, sits the town of Starkville (pop. 18,458), the county seat of Oktibbeha (an old Indian word, meaning “Bloody Water”).

Here in her natural splendor stands Mississippi State, a fine old university that has given to the world John Grisham, who writes books; Will Clark, who plays baseball, and G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery, who has served Congress for 15 terms. Yet while it is the largest center of learning in the state of Mississippi, let’s be blunt--its likelihood of becoming college basketball’s national champion has seemed proportionate to that of an Oscar being won by a talking pig.

Memorable moments from Mississippi State have been few and far between. Back when “Bully” the bulldog, the school’s first mascot, got struck by a bus in 1939, the funeral got national coverage from Life magazine, because after a half-mile procession of mourners came to see Bully lying in state inside a glass coffin, the bulldog’s burial service was conducted under the football stadium’s 50-yard line.

Other than that, we really haven’t seen many Mississippi State sports reports.

Ah, but this was before recent astounding developments, triumphs over top-ranked Kentucky (by 11 points), third-ranked Connecticut (by five) and over seventh-ranked Cincinnati by 10 in a game here Sunday that was over before you could spell M-I-double S-I-double S-I-double P-I. Before it became clear that these Bulldogs could bury you.

They are outplaying everybody, these guys: Dontae’ A. Jones, the kid with the misplaced apostrophe; Russell Walters, the “poultry science” major; Whit Hughes, whose granddaddy captained State’s teams in the 1940s . . . and their games aren’t even close. UConn never led the Bulldogs. Cincy never led the Bulldogs. Princeton--after whipping UCLA--lost to them by 22.

They must be singing, sweet as Elvis, 66 miles south of Tupelo, where the next verse of the school song goes:

Mississippi State, we love you;

Fondest memories cling to thee;

Life shall bear thy spirit ever;

Loyal friends we’ll always be.

One more win, loyal friends, and Mississippi State will play for the national championship.

But the question isn’t: “Where is this team going?”

(It is going to New Jersey via New York, where the 6-11 senior, Walters, says: “I’d like to see that Statue of Liberty.”)

The question is: “Where has this team been?”

Well, if you ask Richard Williams, the irritable, whiny, Oceanside-born coach of the Bulldogs, he will tell you that it is a stupid question, because Williams sees disrespect everywhere he looks.

“I know some of you get the opinion that we are irritable and whining,” Williams said, NCAA Final Four cap in hand, “but look here, what’s on the back of these hats. They say ‘Mississippi’ on the back, not ‘Mississippi State.’

“So, I think we’ve got reason sometimes to feel that way.”

Maybe you also get that way by spending 30 years coaching everything from junior-high ball in Natchez and Jackson to junior-college ball in Wesson, to applying for Bob Boyd’s vacated coaching position at the largest university in the state because, well, because: “I just wanted a job. I wasn’t going anywhere. I was out of a job, and nobody was going to hire me,” Williams said.

He lucked into it. And he waited. And he recruited, although, typically, 10 of this season’s players come from Mississippi, two from Alabama and one from Tennessee. They don’t exactly lure ‘em in from Seattle to Syracuse, down there from Natchez to Mobile.

Oh, but these guys, this team, can play with anybody.

Cincinnati never knew what hit it. The Bulldogs were all over the Bearcats like cats on mice. Erick Dampier owned the paint. Marcus Bullard and Darryl Wilson owned the backcourt. Walters owned the backboard. And, as for Dontae’ Jones, don’t’ he’ miss?

Hoop immortals from Mississippi State, well, you haven’t had many, have you? Bailey Howell was about as good as they got. Until 1961, in fact, your school’s teams were known as the Mississippi State College Maroons, weren’t they? And none even appeared in a postseason tournament until 1963.

Well, you’re sure in one now.

Fondest memories could soon cling to thee, Mississippi State. You’re on your way. Write the word “State” on those caps. And don’t let your dogs near a bus.