Top 5 MSU sporting moments

[MSUDAWGFAN]

Let me just say I did not grow up an MSU fan, so my fandom started my freshman year of college in 1995-1996. As I was watching the game Saturday wishing I was in the stands when Jacob Parker hit that glorious home run, I started to think to myself where did it stand in all time sports moments in MSU sports history. So here is my top 5

1) We beat Auburn in October 2014 to go to #1.
2) We beat Cincinnati to go to the Final Four
3) We beat Arkansas in 1998 to go to the SEC championship game (pending beating Northern Miss)
4) Winning the Natty and being in the stands in Omaha
5) It's hard to say - right now it's a tie with Jake hitting his last base hit followed by the HR from big hit Mac against Stanford or that grand slam Parker hit against LSU. I think it depends on what we do from here on out - if we get swept for 3 straight series, it'll be just another moment like Kevin Prentiss' return against UT in the SECCG, but if we win go 6-3 or 7-2 and become a national seed to host a Super regional (pending winning the regional) it may pass the Stanford regional.

What say ye, pack?

 

[Baddog11]

Your #3 is my #1

 

[Dawgbite]

Anyone’s top five is going to be subjective. The events I was present for mean more to me than the events I saw on TV or heard about later. Two of the items you listed wouldn’t even be on my radar where the other three would definitely be in my top five.

 

[Shmuley]

For the old farts here, the pinnacle is November 1, 1980, finally beating Bear and Bama after literally decades of futility. I was there (when we beat the Bear), along with 214,683 other state fans who claim that they were also there.

 

[MSUDAWGFAN]

Anyone’s top five is going to be subjective. The events I was present for mean more to me than the events I saw on TV or heard about later. Two of the items you listed wouldn’t even be on my radar where the other three would definitely be in my top five.

This is true. Some people in my shoes might have added beating Alabama in 1996.

That was FANTASTIC, but I can't put it higher than any of the other ones listed. Plenty of other people might have it much higher up in their list.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

1980 6-3 over Bama will always be number one
Winning the CWS

Girls Basketball ending UConn record winning streak has to be in the top 5
Men's Basketball making the 96 Final Four

And then my personal favorite: Burke Masters!

 

[Dawgbite]

This is true. Some people in my shoes might have added beating Alabama in 1996.

That was FANTASTIC, but I can't put it higher than any of the other ones listed. Plenty of other people might have it much higher up in their list.

One and four are 1A and 1B. 2-5 can vary from person to person and day to day. I’d have to have Morgan Williams shot to beat UConn in my top five.

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

In the last 50 years:
Winning the Baseball CWS in 2021
Beating Auburn in football to move to #1
Beating Cincinnati to advance to the Final 4
Beating ole miss to win the SEC West football championship.
Beating #1 UCONN in womens basketball.
Beating #1 Alabama in 1980 in football
Playing UCLA for the CWS Championship in 2013
Playing in back-to-back Women’s Basketball Championships.
Beating UCONN to advance to the Elite 8
Beating #3 Florida football 47-35 in 2000

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Coming back from 18 down to beat Alabama 82-81 in overtime to win the SEC basketball championship in 2004 is on the list for me

 

[MSUDAWGFAN]

Coming back from 18 down to beat Alabama 82-81 in overtime to win the SEC basketball championship in 2004 is on the list for me

That was amazing. I was there.

 

[aTotal360]

1) Croomz doing his best impression of Winston Churchill.

 

[She Mate Me]

In the last 50 years:
Winning the Baseball CWS in 2021
Beating Auburn in football to move to #1
Beating Cincinnati to advance to the Final 4
Beating ole miss to win the SEC West football championship.
Beating #1 UCONN in womens basketball.
Beating #1 Alabama in 1980 in football
Playing UCLA for the CWS Championship in 2013
Playing in back-to-back Women’s Basketball Championships.
Beating UCONN to advance to the Elite 8
Beating #3 Florida football 47-35 in 2000

That's a damn good list. Nothing to add off the top of my head.

ETA the comeback to beat Bama mentioned above and Masters GS are up there.

 

[615dawg]

Coming back from 18 down to beat Alabama 82-81 in overtime to win the SEC basketball championship in 2004 is on the list for me

If we make a deeper run in the NCAA Tournament that year, this is likely top five for everyone.

That was unbelievable. We had lost by 50 the previous year at Coleman and needed that game to win the SEC outright. And you youngbloods would not understand this, but during this era, the Mississippi State-Alabama basketball rivalry was intense. That gym hated State. They turned the lights out on us 30 minutes after the game.

 

[MSUDAWGFAN]

If we make a deeper run in the NCAA Tournament that year, this is likely top five for everyone.

That was unbelievable. We had lost by 50 the previous year at Coleman and needed that game to win the SEC outright.

It certainly would have made my list if we had gone further.

It was the next year we got crushed by them, not the previous, IIRC.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

Let me just say I did not grow up an MSU fan, so my fandom started my freshman year of college in 1995-1996. As I was watching the game Saturday wishing I was in the stands when Jacob Parker hit that glorious home run, I started to think to myself where did it stand in all time sports moments in MSU sports history. So here is my top 5

1) We beat Auburn in October 2014 to go to #1.
2) We beat Cincinnati to go to the Final Four
3) We beat Arkansas in 1998 to go to the SEC championship game (pending beating Northern Miss)
4) Winning the Natty and being in the stands in Omaha
5) It's hard to say - right now it's a tie with Jake hitting his last base hit followed by the HR from big hit Mac against Stanford or that grand slam Parker hit against LSU. I think it depends on what we do from here on out - if we get swept for 3 straight series, it'll be just another moment like Kevin Prentiss' return against UT in the SECCG, but if we win go 6-3 or 7-2 and become a national seed to host a Super regional (pending winning the regional) it may pass the Stanford regional.

What say ye, pack?

This is a really good list. It is difficult to narrow my list to 5 but I think these have to be on the list
6-3 win over Bama in 1980
Womens Basketball beating UCONN in the Final Four
1980 Ole Miss football in Oxford to clinch a berth in the SECCG

 

[HotMop]

 

[curseddawgs]

Just games that I have attended in no particular order
2014 Auburn - Football
2021 Auburn - Football
2017 UConn - WBB
2016 Arkansas - Baseball clinched the SEC regular season title
2024 Tennessee - MBB. Had to throw in a basketball game unfortunately in my lifetime most of our best atmospheres have been losses

 

[L4Dawg]

In my time as a fan/alum dating from the early 70s:
Beating Alabama 6-3 in Football in 1980
Beating Auburn in football to go to #1 in 2014
Beating LSU for the SEC Title in men's basketball in 1991
Beating Cincinnati to go to the Final Four in 1996
The 1999 Egg Bowl because of HOW it happened

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

For the old farts here, the pinnacle is November 1, 1980, finally beating Bear and Bama after literally decades of futility. I was there (when we beat the Bear), along with 214,683 other state fans who claim that they were also there.

I actually was there. I only attended 2 of the Jackson games over those 4 years, and that was one of them. I lost a gold rope chain my girlfriend gave me during the mass celebration.

 

[Darryl Steight]

I actually was there. I only attended 2 of the Jackson games over those 4 years, and that was one of them. I lost a gold rope chain my girlfriend gave me during the mass celebration.

Bond still wears that chain **

 

[dogmatic001]

Long ago I decided MSU moments have to be celebrated and enjoyed fully in the moment, not taken as downpayment on bigger things that may but typically don't follow later. A quote I've seen attributed to Bear Bryant that might not really have come from him always sticks with me: "The highs are never as high as the lows are low." Still, we carry on.

My personal list, which is strongly affected by the ones I experienced in person:

1 - CWS Championship 2021
2 - 1996 beat Alabama, first time since 1980. Game was not well attended. Alabama was ranked in the top 10 and we were struggling. We didn't make it to a bowl game that year. I don't recall our record going into the Alabama game but we didn't have a lot of hope. I remember people giving away tickets outside the stadium, leaving them hanging on the holly bushes in the flower beds. If you're going to be there for a big win, though, you have to go to the game - it's sort of a rule of thumb.
3 - Made it to Final Four with a four-win run in the tournament. Best part of that is you get a week to enjoy being in the Sweet 16 and a week to enjoy being in the Final Four before you have to put it on the line again.
4 - Beat Ole Miss to go to Atlanta -- that's how I've always looked at it - beating Arkansas was capital and key of course, but a win in the Bowl of Eggs was mandatory and can never be taken for granted.
5 - Beat Kentucky to win SEC Tournament 1996

Lots and lots of others in various flavors make up the rest for me. Honestly, the win against Arizona State this past fall was on up there in the pile when applied with the caveat I offered to start - we didn't know then of the galactically M-State-ish bedshittings to come, and so had life's brief and transient permission to be happy.

 

[RBcoach]

1. CWS World Series Win
2. UCONN game WBB (I don't care if you like WBB or not, people outside of us still talk about this game.)
3. 99 Egg Bowl
4. SEC Championship Game
5. 2004 Florida Game...(more so because I rode the uprights out of the stadium)

honorable mention... When Anthony Johnson took an INT 100 yards before halftime against Alabama... I was underneath the stadium at one of the pee trough, and thought the stadium was about to collapse.

 

[She Mate Me]

honorable mention... When Anthony Johnson took an INT 100 yards before halftime against Alabama... I was underneath the stadium at one of the pee trough, and thought the stadium was about to collapse.

Bless the unathleticism of John Parker Wilson and the tenacity of Titus Brown facing his hometown team. Truly great moment.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

Bond still wears that chain **

Maybe but he still owes me 60 bucks

 

[DawgatAuburn]

If we make a deeper run in the NCAA Tournament that year, this is likely top five for everyone.

That was unbelievable. We had lost by 50 the previous year at Coleman and needed that game to win the SEC outright. And you youngbloods would not understand this, but during this era, the Mississippi State-Alabama basketball rivalry was intense. That gym hated State. They turned the lights out on us 30 minutes after the game.

It was the next year they beat us so bad. I was at that one too and it was not quite as much fun. But I have only been once in the last ten years or so. One of the Howland teams. It's just so predictable right now that they are going to destroy us.

 

[curseddawgs]

It was the next year they beat us so bad. I was at that one too and it was not quite as much fun. But I have only been once in the last ten years or so. One of the Howland teams. It's just so predictable right now that they are going to destroy us.

I was there in 2023 and we almost beat them. That was around the time Brandon Miller delivered a gun to his teammate and a crime scene ensued shortly after

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

Bless the unathleticism of John Parker Wilson and the tenacity of Titus Brown facing his hometown team. Truly great moment.

A TRULY AMAZING DAY!

 

[The Peeper]

Anyone’s top five is going to be subjective. The events I was present for mean more to me than the events I saw on TV or heard about later. Two of the items you listed wouldn’t even be on my radar where the other three would definitely be in my top five.

Same here. There isn't and won't ever be a basketball moment in my Top 25 much less Top 5. Big difference in being there and seeing it on TV too, I'd have to do an in person and a TV one too.

 

[Wesson Bulldog]

Let me just say I did not grow up an MSU fan, so my fandom started my freshman year of college in 1995-1996. As I was watching the game Saturday wishing I was in the stands when Jacob Parker hit that glorious home run, I started to think to myself where did it stand in all time sports moments in MSU sports history. So here is my top 5

1) We beat Auburn in October 2014 to go to #1.
2) We beat Cincinnati to go to the Final Four
3) We beat Arkansas in 1998 to go to the SEC championship game (pending beating Northern Miss)
4) Winning the Natty and being in the stands in Omaha
5) It's hard to say - right now it's a tie with Jake hitting his last base hit followed by the HR from big hit Mac against Stanford or that grand slam Parker hit against LSU. I think it depends on what we do from here on out - if we get swept for 3 straight series, it'll be just another moment like Kevin Prentiss' return against UT in the SECCG, but if we win go 6-3 or 7-2 and become a national seed to host a Super regional (pending winning the regional) it may pass the Stanford regional.

What say ye, pack?

1. Winning a national championship in baseball in 2021
.
.
.
.
2. 2014 vs. Auburn because my sone was 9 and we had a freaking blast
3. "A grand SLAM for MASTERRRS! A GRAND SLAM FOR MASTERRRS!"
4. Final fo
5. 1998 v. Arkansas

 

[knock him out john]

For the old farts here, the pinnacle is November 1, 1980, finally beating Bear and Bama after literally decades of futility. I was there (when we beat the Bear), along with 214,683 other state fans who claim that they were also there.

we're not old just seasoned.

 

[Xenomorph]

Winning a national championship in baseball is a bigger deal than beating Cincy in '96.

 

[johnson86-1]

1980 6-3 over Bama will always be number one
Winning the CWS

Girls Basketball ending UConn record winning streak has to be in the top 5
Men's Basketball making the 96 Final Four

And then my personal favorite: Burke Masters!

I don't know. If you framed it as, "if you had to pick one of these not happening, which would you pick", there would be many more than 5 moments I would pick over it. Obviously subjective, but that's just not high on the list even though it was probably a significant a women's basketball achievement as you can have outside of a national championship.