MIZZOU MATCHUP: No. 16 Mississippi State Bulldogs

Head Coach: John Cohen (126-111 in 5^th season as Alabama Head Coach)

Hoover Metropolitan Stadium – Hoover, AL

Tuesday @ 8 PM CT (CSS, ESPN3)

Missouri (18-31, 11-20 SEC) vs. Mississippi State (40-16, 16-14 SEC)

After the weekend series against Kentucky, Missouri found a way to get into the SEC Tournament as a 12 seed, the lowest seed to make the tournament, and have drawn the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the first round. This game is an elimination game, so if the Tigers lose, that will be it for their season. The Bulldogs took the series last weekend against South Carolina convincingly, and expect to roll past Mizzou. They have a 2-0 neutral site record, and an impressive 40-16 mark overall.

Projected Lineup

SS Adam Frazier (L) .338

3B Alex Detz (L) .311

RF Hunter Renfroe (R) .362

2B Brett Pirtle (S) .309

1B Wes Rea (R) .277

CF C.T. Bradford (L) .308

LF Demarcus Henderson (R) .273

C Nick Ammirati (S) .276

DH Derrick Armstrong (R) .250

Position Players

This may be the best 1-9 lineup that the Tigers have faced all year. In the three-hole resides Hunter Renfroe. In my column a couple weeks ago I highlighted him as the SEC leader in isolated power, as one of the best all around hitters in the conference. He is first in the SEC in slugging percentage (.691), and has drawn almost as many walks (33) as he has struck out (34). His OBP of .459 is also good for the team lead. Five of their starters are hitting above .300, which brings the team batting average to .295; good enough for third in the SEC (Vanderbilt leads at .319). Their run production absolutely obliterates their opponents, outscoring them 342-189 which is just a sample of their offensive domination. For the season, there is no major offensive category that the Bulldogs are inferior to their opponents.

Projected Pitching Matchups

LHP Rob Zastryzny (2-9, 3.64 ERA) vs. RHP Trevor Fitts (0-0, 1.65 ERA)

Pitchers

The highlight of the Bulldog pitching staff is their bullpen. It is chalked full of guys with ERAs under 2.00, with the capability of striking out a lot of hitters. Tiger hitters will will be facing somewhat of an unknown as Bulldogs coach John Cohen is planning to start a sophomore pitcher with only 21 innings in his entire career at Mississippi State . He has appeared in 12 games this season, with a total of 16 innings pitched, so he probably is not being counted on to go very long as a starter.  In effect, Mizzou may be facing a Johnny Wholestaff situation in this game, with the Bulldogs relying on that deep bullpen against what they obviously consider to be an inferior opponent.

Matchup Wrap-up

The only way I see Missouri winning this game is if they can adjust to a revolving door of pitchers coming in for short stints on the mound.  If they can get to Fitts early and put some quick runs on the board will give Rob Z the confidence of pitching with the lead. This lineup could be the best Mizzou has faced this season, and they will have to put together a complete game to take down the favorited Mississippi State Bulldogs.

SEC Tournament: 5-Seed Mississippi State vs. 12-Seed Missouri

♦ For details about the SEC Tournament bracket, tickets, and more, check out Top 9 Things You Want to Know About MU in the SEC Tournamaent.

♦ Also check out our off-season South By Southeast posts about Mississippi State Baseball:

• Starkville, MS
• Hail State
• John Cohen's Mississippi State Bulldogs
• Mississippi State Baseball History

Mississippi State baseball is 1 of just 3 SEC teams w/ 40 wins, impressive given the Bulldogs' strength of schedule (5th nationally)...
— Mike Nemeth (@MikeNemeth) May 19, 2013

A&M coach Rob Childress on Mizzou LHP ace Rob Zastryzny: "He matches up really well against MSU b/c they have several LH hitters in lineup.

— Matthew Stevens (@matthewcstevens) May 20, 2013

John Cohen just confirmed that MSU will throw RHP Trevor Fitts (12 apperances, 1.65 ERA, 1 start) vs. #Mizzou Tuesday.

— Mizzou Baseball (@MUTigerBaseball) May 20, 2013

Coach J on Cohen: "It was something that was going to happen eventually...I’m anxious to see John’s reaction more than anything"

— Mizzou Baseball (@MUTigerBaseball) May 20, 2013

♦There's a good summary of how Mississippi State finished strong to end the regular season at This Week in MSU Baseball: SEC Tournament Edition (For Whom the Cowbell Tolls)

...The Bulldogs now defend their title in the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala. Last season they were pretty much out of regional hosting so winning wouldn't hurt. They ran the table and won five games in six days, one of the best runs in tournament history. This season is slightly different. I think State will be content with bowing out of the tournament. That's not to say they want to try and lose, but having a few extra days to rest for the regional will probably be best.

State will start the tournament Tuesday playing the final game of day one against the 12-seed Missouri. I believe winning the Tuesday night game seals up MSU's hosting chances. Going 2-2 in the tournament would be reasonable enough for most fans. We shall see how it all plays out.

♦ Thanks to success of its programs, baseball enjoys unmatched popularity in Miss. (Jackson Clarion Ledger)

The evolution of Southeastern Conference stadiums began in Starkville. Mississippi State athletics director Scott Stricklin remembers driving down to Jackson to watch MSU play Georgia Tech. In the middle of the game the Bulldog Club offered fans an opportunity to pick their seat at the new Dudy Noble Field.

“It was jaw-dropping at the time that anybody could do that for college baseball,” Stricklin said. “And that happened because of what those crowds drew at the ’85 team.”

What many consider the best college baseball team to not win a College World Series, the 1985 Bulldogs took the field with 18-game winner Jeff Brantley, Bobby Thigpen, Clark (the eventual Golden Spikes Award winner) and Palmeiro, MSU’s career home run leader....

♦ Tension Tuesday at SEC baseball tournament now means win or go home (al.com)

Seven of the SEC Tournament's 17 games are now single elimination (41 percent). Two years ago during the final season of the eight-team bracket, there was one single-elimination game, Sunday's championship.

Single elimination contradicts how baseball typically evaluates success and failure -- over a series of games. In the NCAA Tournament, there are double-elimination NCAA regionals, best-of-three NCAA super regionals, a double-elimination College World Series, and a best-of-three national championship series.

But if the SEC wants to have 86 percent of its teams in Hoover -- 67 percent went during the eight-team tournament -- coaches say single-elimination games are needed to spare players' bodies for the NCAA Tournament....

♦ Missouri coach Tim Jamieson Monday morning debriefing (Jackson Clarion Ledger)

On opening against friend John Cohen: ”I’m looking forward to it. John and I didn’t get to compete against each other this year. We didn’t play Mississippi State this season. It’s going to happen sooner or later. Next year’s schedule they get to come to Columbia. It’s something that’s going t happen eventually and I’m looking forward to it. I’m anxious to see John’s reaction than anything else.”...

Top 9 Things You Want to Know About MU in the SEC Baseball Tournament

Things to know about Mizzou Baseball in the SEC Tournament:

1) By winning two of three against Kentucky in their final SEC series this weekend, the Tigers guaranteed themselves a spot in the SEC Tournament.  Losing the third game of that series to Kentucky, MU settled into the 12th (and lowest) seed in the SEC Tournament, while Kentucky hung on to the 11th slot.

2) Mizzou's first game in the tournament will be against Mississippi State sometime Tuesday evening (half an hour after the conclusion of the 4:30 PM scheduled Florida-Texas A&M game)  -- DETAILED BRACKET

3) In the first round of the tournament, the teams seeded 5-12 play one another (5 vs. 12, 6 vs. 11, etc) in a single-elimination game on Tuesday.  The four teams that lose in that round are done.  The four winners then participate in a typical double-elimination tournament Wednesday through Saturday, concluding with a single game championship match-up between the winners of each bracket.

4) If Missouri beats Mississippi State on Tuesday, they would face 4-seed South Carolina (MU was 1-2 vs. USC this season) on Wednesday.  Other teams in their bracket are Florida (1-2) and Texas A&M (0-3), one of which will be eliminated on Tuesday; plus 1-seed Vanderbilt (0-3).  The shortest way to winning the SEC Tournament for Mizzou would be to win 5 straight games in 6 days.

5) Mizzou's first game on Tuesday is on ESPN3, XM 199, Sirius 158, and on CSS TV.  Additional games may also be on Fox Sports South, ESPNEWS, and the championship game is on ESPN2.  Detailed broadcast schedule HERE.

6) The Tigers were scheduled to leave Columbia early Sunday morning to head for Hoover, Alabama, the site of the SEC Tournament.

7) Details about Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.   Ticket details.

8) Mississippi State is one of three SEC schools Mizzou did not play in the regular season (along with Ole Miss and Arkansas).  Prior to Tuesday evening's game, Sam Nasci plans to post another of his Mizzou Matchup previews here at SimmonsField.com.

9) Perhaps one of the most interesting side stories of the Missouri-Mississippi State match-up is the fact that MSU's head coach John Cohen was once an assistant coach at Missouri, under Gene McArtor and then Tim Jamieson.  I'm sure we'll be reading more about that in the next couple of days.

HI NOTES: Impact Players & Impact Fans

RECRUITING

my mizzou boys! Signing day! College is gonna be so much better with these two(: @jaredfosd_ck @dtrainn_23 instagr.am/p/VZWTJcLDFT/
— Julie Stoffel (@julie_stoffel) February 6, 2013

MISSOURI BASEBALL IN THE MINORS/MAJORS

♦ The Road to Rebuild: Kyle Gibson could be key (twinsdaily.com)

During the next couple of seasons, there is going to need to be more than one thing that breaks in favor of the Twins for the team to get back to the top of the AL Central. There will be plenty of young talent ready to emerge for the club but this will mean that some things need to go right in the minor leagues. For Minnesota, the road to rebuild has already started and there will be plenty of other important steps along the way.

Kyle Gibson could be one of the key pieces for the Twins on their road back to the top. The former first round pick back in 2009 will undoubtedly make his MLB debut this year after missing most of last season due to Tommy John surgery. Reports from the Arizona Fall League have his slider looking sharper and there seems to be a little more life on his pitches. This is great news for the Twins.

The Twins hope their rotation of the future will include Gibson and recent acquisitions Alex Meyer and Trevor May. It will be a year or two before Meyer and May make it to the big leagues. This leaves Gibson as the first cog in the rotation of the future. He should have the most big league service time under his belt and this could help him to be a leader to these other young pitchers...

TIGERS ON DECK

♦ Tigers on Deck on Facebook: If they can get this much support in Starkville, MS, there's no reason we can't do it bigger and better here at Mizzou. Invite your friends, spread the word, and keep fighting the good fight to show Mizzou is a premier SEC school.

“@billsimmonds: @coach_cohen and 750 @msududes met in Palmeiro Center tonight to kick off 2013 Baseball season! twitpic.com/c185j6”

— John Cohen (@Coach_Cohen) February 6, 2013

VITAL INSIDE SCOUTING INFORMATION

My gameday bubble gum brand is HubbaBubba and they came out with new flavors, Dr. Pepper & Orange Crush. Very excited w/ this development!
— Dan Pietroburgo (@CoachPietro) February 6, 2013

Southern Exposure: SEC Takes the Cake & Regrets

♦ Mississippi State AD Scott Stricklin has plenty to say about MSU Baseball and their ballpark, Dudy-Noble, in Stricklin:

Mississippi State 'better off down the road'(ClarionLedger.com)
Recruiting has become something where you have to cast your line further and further out. John is having to recruit sophomores and freshmen. It’s interesting to see how far because recruiting is taking place so much farther in the future. It’s harder to get a quick read on a coach and what he’s doing. It’s almost like, here John is going into year 5 and now for the first time you can see where his program is backward and forward...

♦ I've been trying to figure out what the point is of Pinterest.  After taking a look at the decorated cakes on the SEC Weddings album, I'm still wondering.

♦ RockMNation has an interesting discussion thread regarding So ... is David Ubben right? If you were pulling the strings, would Mizzou "sprint back" to the Big 12?

There was apparently a late break of no's, and in the end, a whopping 12 percent of those responding said that Mizzou should never have left the Big 12. Never mind that you cannot get 88 percent of Missouri fans to agree on anything. They agreed on this. But apparently that's just hubris, not an enormous combination of conference stability, financial stability, and the fact that the SEC is just a pretty nice place to live. Nope...

Southern Exposure: Southern Snow & Squirrels

♦ Simmons Field is not the only SEC ballpark covered with snow:

Dudy Noble Field on a snowy day. "Still the best place to watch college baseball" -Sports illustrated #hailstate twitter.com/MSU_Baseball/s…
— MSU Baseball (@MSU_Baseball) January 17, 2013

Raise your hand if you watched a baseball game at Dudy-Noble while it was snowing. I did in 1988 (one of many).
— Miss State Baseball (@MsStateBaseball) January 17, 2013

♦LSU is the next in the series: Getting to Know SEC Baseball: LSU (mutigers.com)

♦ Great quote from Ole Miss Coach Mike Bianco:

Great quote for recruiters-“If your company mission is to climb a tree, which would you rather do: Hire a squirrel or train a horse?”
— Coach Mike Bianco (@CoachMikeBianco) January 17, 2013

SxSE: Mississippi State Baseball 1885-2012

The Mississippi State bulldogs have seen good success over the years.  They are currently an NCAA Regional program.  They can be expected to have a good shot at reaching the Regionals each year, and may go even farther.  But there have been enough season in the past decade when they did not get into the tournament at all that they still have something to prove in terms of being a highly  successful program.  The Bulldogs' average record over the past 10 seasons has been 34-26.

Mississippi State has the oldest tradition in the SEC of participating in inter-collegiate baseball, stretching back to 1885.

C.R. "Dudy" Noble coached the Bulldogs from 1920 to 1927.  He went on to be the long time athletic director at Mississippi State.  The Bulldogs baseball stadium is named after him.

Paul Gregory coached the bulldogs from 1957 through 1974, compiling a record of 328-161-1 and taking them to the College World Series once.

Ron Polk was the head coach from 1976 through 2008.

• Former MU assistant coach John Cohen has been the head coach at MSU since 2009.
• MSU has won the SEC regular season championship 16 times, in 1909, 1911, 1918, 1921, 1922, 1924, 1948, 1949, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1985, 1987, and 1989
• MSU has won the SEC Tournament 7 times, in 1979, 1985, 1987, 1990, 2001, 2005, and 2012
• MSU hs been in the NCAA Tournament 32 times, in 1949, 1953, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, and 2012
• MSU has been to the College World Series 8 times, in 1971, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1990, 1997, 1998, and 2007. They have never won the national championship

Notable former Mississippi State ballplayers

• Rafael Palmeiro
• Will Clark
• Jeff Brantley
• Bobby Thigpen
• John Cohen
• Dudy Noble
• Buck Showalter

♦ History of MSU Baseball (ForWhomTheBellTolls.com) provides a quick overview of the storied history of Mississippi State Baseball.  I'll stipulate the writer knows what he's talking about, despite having spelled the current head coach's name incorrectly.  For more MSU Baseball History, take a gander at the many old time photos at Glimpses of the Past:  Mississippi State Baseball

♦ A big part of MSU Baseball history and tradition is tied to the tenure of legendary head coach Ron Polk.  He built Bulldog Baseball - and SEC Baseball - into a powerhouse.  For more on Ron Polk, read our post from last year's SEC Dixienary: P is for Polk

Mississippi State Baseball in 2012

The 2012 Bulldogs finished 40-24 overall, 16-14 in the SEC.  They won the SEC Tournament and t hen went 1-2 in the Tallahassee Regional.

♦ All Things Considered, it was a Good Year for MSU Baseball (Maroon and White Nation)

Pitching was the obvious strength for this team…and they exceeded expectations. Caleb Reed wasn’t as dominate as in 2011, but he was still effective this year with a 2.47 ERA. Chris Stratton surpassed everyone’s expectations by going from a long-relief guy to one of the best starting pitchers in the country.
. . .
The hitting, as we all know, struggled. But consider how much was lost from last year’s team:11 of the top 12 hitters from 2011 either left or missed significant time due to injury this year (Parks, Vickerson, Bradford, Shepherd, Freeman, Brownlee, Norris, Ogden, Collins, Thigpen and Johnson). A guy who hit in the heart of the lineup all year, Hunter Renfroe, only had 26 at-bats in 2011, and hit .154. A lot of young players gained valuable experience this year: Wes Rea, Matthew Britton, Hunter Renfroe, DeMarcus Henderson and Tyler Fullerton. . .

♦ MSU Baseball- Don’t Close That Coffin Yet! (Maroon and White Nation)

That was part of the challenge that John Cohen took on four years ago when he took over. It’s one thing to say that you have to add talent- but there are some things that are deeper than that- things that must be done in order to get the talent that you need to compete for championships. No matter how good the bar-b-que is, no one wants to play for a loser. We had to get confidence back from the players and the fans, we had to makeover our image as a program that simply has a good history, and we had to change the overall attitude of our program. To me, that is the legacy of this team. This is the team that I have been waiting for, for four years that I feel put us back on the map, and gives us a real opportunity to move our baseball program even further forward. And while we didn’t make it to Omaha or even a Super Regional like last year’s team, I think this team accomplished us getting our swagger back. . .

SxSE: Coach John Cohen's Mississippi State Bulldogs

♦ Recruiting footprint:  Based on recent rosters, Cohen tends to recruit from Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, Florida, Georgia, plus random players from LA, MD, NJ and MO. 

♦ Mississippi State Head Coach John Cohen began his career as an assistant coach at Missouri from 1992-1997. He was the chief assistant coach for his final three seasons and served as the Tigers' hitting instructor and recruiting coordinator.

In 1996, Missouri won the Big Eight championship and advanced to an NCAA Regional for the first time in 16 years. The Tigers broke nine offensive school records that season, part of 17 total records set by Cohen's offenses in his six years (from bestbaseballswing.com)

After five seaons as head coach at Kentucky (where he took the historically cellar-dwelling Wildcats to an SEC championship in 2006), Cohen was named to replace legendary MSU Head Coach Ron Polk in 2008.   Polk threw a huge hissy-fit, but apparently there was no lasting enmity between the two.

♦ From SEBaseball.com, 3/20/12: John Cohen says what he thinks and doesn't really care who hears it. The Mississippi State skipper has a solid club this Spring and has his squad fighting through a tough rash of injuries.
. . .
After all of the injury challenges, Mississippi State had their chances in Friday's opener as starter Chris Stratton struck out 17 LSU batters but the Tigers won 3-2 in 10 innings.

After the game a fired up Cohen had this doozy of a sound-bite: "We out-competed LSU. We out-worked LSU. We just had some things not go our way at the end."

Quotes like those fire up fanbases on both sides. Writers love to hear it because stories containing them are more likely to be read. That said, you sure don't hear a lot of "we out-whatevered" the opponent quotes these days.

I'm sure many coaches feel like they whipped their opponent everywhere but the run column. Few say it publicly. Part of me likes the bravado. Part of me thinks you should take the high road with comments about other teams - especially after they just beat you.

♦ John Cohen sums up his non-philosophical hitting philosophy in No Philosophy, just Precision (bestbaseballswing.com)

There's a lot of hitting philosophy out there. Precision is what gets the job done, though. Let's take a look at the battle between a pitcher and a hitter to illustrate this point. A pitcher is trying to load up his energy and deliver it to a precise target. The hitter is trying to do the same thing - load up his energy and release it right back up the middle. The pitcher's job is to disrupt the hitters flow of energy with either pitch placement or by changing speeds. Take a curve ball - the curve ball reaches its apex and most hitters will follow the pitch up and their flow of energy is up instead of straight back toward the pitcher. Have you ever seen a hitter miss underneath a curve ball? Hardly, they miss above it and the pitcher has accomplished his goal of disrupting the hitters energy. Philosophy says stay back to hit the curve ball. Precision says work beneath the plane of the breaking ball.

♦ I think the coaching staff has really done a great job building a strong foundation there. I like that the staff was patient and built around high-upside high school kids, even though they knew there would be some risk that it might take those players a year or two to develop. But they have been rewarded for that approach with one of the deepest pitching staffs in college baseball, which has led to the team’s recent resurgence. (Jim Callis, quoted in ClarionLedger.com)

♦ JohnCohenBaseball.com has several articles about Cohen's coaching methods, as well as DVDs available (for a price)

SxSE: Hail State

♦ Dudy Noble Field, Polk-Dement Stadium:

• Opened: 1967, at its present location; frequent remodeling and upgrades since
• Capacity: Approximately 7,200, although the all-time record crowd is listed as 14,991
• Named after: Former MSU Baseball Coach C.R. "Dudy" Noble; former MSU Coach Ron Polk; longtime MSU Baseball fan and supporter Gordon Dement 

♦ Bulldog fans ring cowbells during games at Dudy Noble Field (and at other Bulldogs sports events).  They're apparently not supposed to, according to SEC noise-maker rules, but they do anyway.  It's tradition.  It's been a huge debate between MSU and the SEC.  A big deal.  There's even a website called RespectTheBell.com

♦ Sources: Fences at Dudy Noble Will Be Moved In (Maroon and White Nation)

We were told today by a very knowledgeable source close to the baseball program that right field at Dudy Noble will be moved in 16 feet. The fence will connect in right center at the 374 mark.

I think this is a very strange move especially after the outstanding performance of our young pitching staff this year and the underwhelming power hitting but this has been a topic of discussion for awhile now. The Dude has never been a hitters ball park with center field at 390 ft. One thing is for sure, this will favor left hand hitters with the right field fence at 310′ compared to 326′ as it is now. Left field will remain at 330 ft in the corner.

This fence-moving actually got underway in August.

♦ Take Me Out to the Ballpark, John Grisham's ode to Mississippi State baseball.

The following year State hired Ron Polk, and Dudy Noble snapped back to life. He won, as he always has and always will, and suddenly the stands were full, the crowds were loud, the trucks and trailers appeared in left field, the Lounge was open for business, and the clouds of barbecue smoke became a symbol of baseball success at Mississippi State. We outgrew the old park, and he convinced us to build a new one. . .

♦ "Mississippi State invented what is now normal in SEC baseball - people caring about the program, people showing up in the stands, people really buying into the sport," Cohen said. "That was a norm at Mississippi State when it wasn't a norm at any other program in the Southeastern Conference."
. . .
"I really loved last year's recruiting class, and I fully expect this program to remain among the top half of the SEC," said Aaron Fitt, who covers college baseball for Baseball America. "But I don't think they will ever return to their dominance of the 1980s - I don't think any program will be able to sustain that kind of consistent top-of-the-SEC performance in today's SEC, which is just so much deeper and more competitive."(Clarion Ledger)

♦ Dudy Gras is an annual parade and celebration signifying the start of Mississippi State University's baseball season. Read about the 2012 Dudy Gras HERE. And read more details about the event in a write-up about the 2011 Dudy Gras.

♦ MSU's student organization, "The Dudes":

SxSE: Starkville, Mississippi

Rolling right along in our South by Southeast road trip through the SEC, we've arrived at Starkville, MS, the home of Mississippi State Baseball.

"Starkville is an Indian word for 'trailer park'."

    - Skip Bertman, long time coach of  LSU Baseball.

♦ Starkville is the 5th closest SEC town to Columbia, 576 miles away (428 air miles).  Mississippi State is in the SEC West Division.

♦ Fun facts about Starkville, MS

• 2010 population:  23,888.  That's an amazingly small number, considering the student body of Mississippi State runs around 21,000.
  
  
• Starkville makes no apologies whatsoever about being mostly about Mississippi State.  The Starkville Convention & Visitors Bureau website features their logo and slogan:  Historic Starkville:  Mississippi's College Town.
  
  
• The original name of the town was Boardtown, because a local lumber mill made boards.  Later they changed the name to the much more inspiring Starkville, after General John Stark.
  
  
• Starkville is the birthplace of legendary baseball player Cool Papa Bell.
  
  
• Notorious criminal Machine Gun Kelley was a student at Mississippi State for two years, enrolling in 1917.
  
  
• Check out this article at StarkvilleNow.com for a look at some of the history of Starkville.

John Grisham
Mississippi St alum

♦ There is only  1 Chik-fil-a location in Starkville

♦ Starkville is locally referred to occasionally as StarkVegas.

• There's a @VivaStarkVegas Twitter account and a Facebook page

• UrbanDictionary.com has this definition:
• StarkVegas (n.) Slang for Starkville, MS. There, people keep it real by drinking, smoking, and throwing away their future. Its liberal by biblebelt standards but freakishly conservative by standards set by the freethinking world.
      Johnny: Where's the party at?
      Ronnie: Starkvegas you idiot.
       Johnny: I knew i was just testing you.

• Why is Starkville called StarkVegas? (Message board thread at TigerDroppings.com)
• "because what happens in starksville....never gets heard about...bc there is nothing to do...?"
• "Because it's trashy, but without the glitz."
• "Because for the longest time the only place where there was anything (shopping, restaraunts, hotels, etc.) was on Hwy 12. Someone called it the Starkville version of the Strip in Las Vegas...therefore Starkvegas"

♦ Holy Turf.com's SEC Bucket List:  Mississippi State

# 62 Bulldog Bathrooms: At Mississippi State the men’s bathrooms are odd. There are a couple of stalls, but there are no urinals. You simply urinate on the wall. It runs down into a trough at the bottom of the wall. (Insert snaky comment about Starkville here)

I first went to the bathroom on the wall several years ago (think 2002) when in Starkville for a game. I returned in 2006 to watch Arkansas clinch the SEC West assuming by now the Bulldogs have more typical bathroom accommodations. You know what happens when you assume. After a four year hiatus, I returned to Starkville twice during the 2010 season. Once to watch Auburn and later to watch Arkansas. It is 2010 by now. I mean our parents are on Facebook, sending a Tweet is a cool thing, and surely Mississippi State has somewhere for men to urinate besides the wall, right? Wrong!

♦ Click HERE to listen a pair of podcasts on RodkMNation from The Closers on KFRU, discussing Starkville and MSU" traditions with a pair of Mississippi sports writers.

♦ If want to know the best places to eat in Starkville, check out The SEC Guide to MSU's Home Turf (espn.com):

Tucked away between a bridge and the fire station on University Drive is a dilapidated building next to an empty gas station. From the outside, the place looks abandoned like in an episode of Scooby-Doo with its outdoor dining area consisting of lawn chairs. Beneath the shabby exterior, however, is the vibrant and, might I mention, always packed Stromboli's of Starkville, Mississippi. Stromboli's is considered the go-to pizza place of Starkvegas.

♦ In Starkville, boring is in the eye of the beholder (Columbia Missourian)

The exit sign for Starkville (people there say the "k" like a "t") had been unremarkable enough that it was nearly missed. The car screeched sideways through the first turn of what felt like a 720-degree exit ramp before sanity and proper speed were restored.

Five hundred seventy-five miles, nine hours and one near-death experience.

And for what?

To see if what everyone said was true.

To see if, out of the 14 U.S. cities that have Southeastern Conference Schools, this town really was the most boring.

Read the rest at the Columbia Missourian