How Does Mississippi State's Non-Conference Schedule Compare to That Of Other Power 5 Teams?

Mississippi State played an SEC-only schedule in 2020, but will resume playing non-conference opponents this year.

Teams in the Southeastern Conference, including Mississippi State, didn't play any non-conference opponents due to restrictions put in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

But teams around the country will resume playing teams from outside of their own conferences in 2021, and some obviously have tougher schedules than others.

Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman recently ranked the difficulty of each of the 64 Power 5 teams' non-conference schedules ahead of the 2021 season.

Tramel had Mississippi State at No. 19 on the list, behind South Carolina and ahead of West Virginia.

Stanford, which faces the likes of Kansas State, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame, ranked No. 1 on the list.

"Louisiana Tech, North Carolina State, at Memphis, Tennessee State," he wrote. "Not bad. N.C. State is a middle-of-the-road Power 5 program, but Memphis has become an American Conference force, and Louisiana Tech usually is solid. "

Here's a look at the Bulldogs' complete 2021 football schedule, with their all-time record against each non-conference opponent they face this year:

9/4: vs. Louisiana Tech (11-3)

9/11: vs. NC State (3-3)

9/18: at Memphis (33-11)

9/25: vs. LSU

10/2: at Texas A&M

10/16: vs. Alabama

10/23: at Vanderbilt

10/30: vs. Kentucky

11/6: at Arkansas

11/13: at Auburn

11/20: vs. Tennessee State (first-ever meeting)

11/25: vs. Ole Miss

Given that MSU is on the winning side of each of its all-time records against the non-conference opponents on this year's schedule, these four games will be victories if history tells the story here.

The Bulldogs ended the 2020 regular season with a 3-7 overall record, with wins over LSU, Vanderbilt and Missouri. MSU recorded losses against Arkansas, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Auburn.

State ended the year with a 28-26 win over Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl.

It became evident toward the end of the season that the Bulldogs were beginning to get their feet under them, and we should expect to see them build upon that momentum with a full offseason in place and players returning from last year who have a year under their belts with new coaches on either side of the ball.