Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Tickets

Mississippi State football in brief: Maroons, Bulldogs and a 1941 SEC title

Mississippi State Bulldogs football tickets get you into Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field in Starkville, Mississippi, a stadium of about 60,000 seats that dates to 1914. The home schedule usually runs from early September through late November, and the year's biggest home game is the Egg Bowl against Ole Miss, which comes to Starkville in odd-numbered years.

The school, then Mississippi A&M, fielded its first team in 1895; the first coach is credited with choosing maroon and white as the school colors. The team was known as the Aggies and then the Maroons before officially becoming the Bulldogs in 1960, though "Bulldogs" had been used informally since at least 1905. Mississippi State is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Its lone SEC championship came in 1941, a year after the 1940 team posted the only undefeated season in school history and won the Orange Bowl. The program also won the SEC West in 1998.

The most recent national spotlight came in 2014, when a team led by quarterback Dak Prescott climbed from unranked to No. 1 in the AP Poll in five weeks, the fastest such rise in the poll's history, and held the top spot in the first College Football Playoff rankings before a loss at Alabama.

Where to sit at Davis Wade Stadium

Davis Wade Stadium opened in 1914 as New Athletic Field and is the second-oldest stadium in the Football Bowl Subdivision, behind Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium. The field was named Scott Field in 1920, and the stadium took the Davis Wade name before the 2001 season. Expansions in 1986, 2002 and 2014 added upper decks, skyboxes, 1,700 club seats and a sealed north end zone, and the 2022 balcony project replaced some upper-deck seats. As of 2022, the listed capacity is 60,311. Video boards stand above both end zones, with the south board above the Leo Seal M-Club building.

How the seating breaks down:

• Lower sidelines: The best view and the highest resale prices sit between the 30-yard lines. Bully I, the original Bulldog mascot, is buried at the 50-yard line beneath the players' bench, a detail fans like to point out.
• West upper deck and the Balconies: In 2022 the school replaced bleacher seats in west upper-deck sections 301, 302, 312 and 313, and parts of 303 and 311, with tiered open-air balcony boxes about 9 feet 6 inches deep, each with a drink rail. They suit groups and families who want room to move and socialize, and holders can stock their balcony the day before a game.
• East upper deck: The concourse beneath the east upper deck is sealed and climate-controlled, which matters on a hot September afternoon or a cold November night.
• End zones: The north end was enclosed in 2014. End-zone seats are the usual value option, but low rows flatten the view of the far end.

With video boards at the north and south ends, the field runs north to south, so in an afternoon game the west side generally has the sun behind it and the east side faces it. Students and the visiting team's fans each receive an allotment placed by the athletics department; check the current seating map before buying.

The Egg Bowl and the games that fill Starkville

Mississippi State's schedule has one game above all others:

• Ole Miss (the Egg Bowl): First played in 1901 and contested annually since 1915 except for 1943, it is one of the longest uninterrupted series in the country. A traveling trophy, the Golden Egg, was added in 1927, and the game has been called the Egg Bowl since 1979. It is usually played on Thanksgiving weekend and alternates campuses, with odd-numbered years in Starkville and even-numbered years in Oxford. In Starkville years, it is the most in-demand home ticket on the schedule.
• Alabama: An annual series sometimes called the 90 Mile Drive or the Battle for Highway 82.
• LSU: LSU's most-played series and a long-running SEC West matchup, sometimes called "Cajuns vs. Cowbells." The teams did not play in 2024 or 2025 but are scheduled for 2026 and 2028.
• Auburn: A competitive SEC series in recent years.

Rotations under the SEC's current schedule change which opponents visit each season. After the Egg Bowl, demand peaks for ranked SEC visitors and night kickoffs. Between October 2009 and September 2014 the stadium sold out 31 straight games, a sign of how quickly supply tightens when the team is winning.

Cowbells and gameday traditions

Cowbells are the signature of a Mississippi State game. The SEC banned artificial noisemakers from 1977 to 2009, but fans kept bringing bells anyway, and estimates put as many as 40,000 in the stadium for a big game. A 2010 compromise allowed cowbells at set times, and since 2014 the SEC's sound policy has let fans ring them except from the moment the center stands over the ball until the play is whistled dead. Follow the crowd's lead on timing.

• The Junction: A grassy park on the south side of the stadium where thousands of fans tailgate under tents with no cars or traffic, built on the site of a former tangle of intersections known as "Malfunction Junction."
• The Dawg Walk: About two hours before each home game, players and coaches walk through The Junction to the stadium while the Famous Maroon Band plays.
• "Don't Stop Believin'": Since 2014, the song plays between the third and fourth quarters while fans sway, sing and ring their bells.

Mississippi State is also credited with being the first to use "Who Let the Dogs Out?" at a sporting event. As of recent seasons, SEC venues restrict bag size and type at entry; check the athletics department's current bag, cowbell, parking and mobile-ticket rules on hailstate.com before you go.

How Mississippi State football tickets work

Season-ticket holders account for most of Davis Wade Stadium, and seat priority and premium options such as the Balconies and club seats are tied to donations to the athletics department's booster program. Students draw from their own allotment.

For lower-demand games, the resale market often has good sideline seats for early-season games. The Egg Bowl in Starkville years and visits from top SEC opponents are different: season-ticket holders keep those seats, and resale is where most fans find them. Prices follow the opponent, the teams' records, the kickoff time and the weather. Every GoodSeats order is backed by a 100% guarantee.

Coaching staffs and rosters change from season to season; check the school's official site for the current staff and schedule rather than relying on earlier seasons.

History at Scott Field

The stadium's first game, on October 3, 1914, was a 54–0 win over Marion Military Institute. On September 20, 2001, it hosted the first major college football game played after the September 11 attacks, Mississippi State against South Carolina on ESPN. The program's bowl history includes wins in the 1941 Orange Bowl, the 1963 Liberty Bowl, the 1999 Peach Bowl and a 52–14 win over Michigan in the 2011 Gator Bowl. The 2014 season, with its run to No. 1 and an Orange Bowl berth, remains the modern benchmark.

Sources

• Wikipedia – Mississippi State Bulldogs football
• Wikipedia – Davis Wade Stadium
• Wikipedia – Egg Bowl
• Wikipedia – LSU Tigers football (rivalries)