The schools are only an hour and a half apart. I don’t mean this with any condescension but Mississippi State is a lot further away than ninety minutes. I’d say the difference is in decades. Mississippi State isn’t close to anything. It isn’t famous for anything either. Well, maybe cow bells and for turning in Cam Newton. Going to Starkville (a most appropriate name) is like a trip back in time. Some of that is good, but a lot of it is bad. Why would anyone willingly choose to attend State. Now I fully know this isn’t true, and that a lot of nice people are State fans and students. But, and how to say this, Alabama fans tend to think of Mississippi State as Auburn west. You know the old joke - why don’t State fans roll a tree like Auburn does? They don’t use toilet paper.
Alabama fans have already made their minds up why Mississippi State gets so many good basketball players. Tide fans even spell the school with $ signs instead of an S. It doesn’t matter that State has never been branded by the NCAA for any truly major violations regarding buying players. Regardless, of what you believe you have to give State some major credit for becoming a force in basketball. Look, I don’t care if they do pay players. You couldn’t pay most people to drive to Starkville much less attend school.
Mario Austin’s decision to attend State when ‘Bama fans knew he was a lock for the Tide was like the firing on Fort Sumpter. It may not have started the war but fans knew they were in one when it happened. Many of us had said he didn’t really want to attend school with Gerald Wallace. Not many people wanted to attend school with the mercurial Wallace, but Tide fans had visions of Final Four dancing in their heads. Austin was not going to sign with ‘Bama. It wasn’t an option once Wallace committed to the Tide. It didn’t help matters when Austin’s coach “verbally committed” Austin to Alabama. After that $tate bough Austin clear and simple, and a little truth wasn’t going to cloud the judgment and opinion of Tide fans.
Personally, I’d rather beat Mississippi State than Kentucky. Kentucky is crooked it is almost like playing football against Auburn. The State game has that kind of feeling about it. The Hump? Isn’t that what your dog invariably does against your guest’s leg when you least expect it? The State jokes could go on forever. Just replace all your Barn jokes with the name State. On Thursday night Vanderbilt put another loss on the Bulldogs. If Bama wins on Saturday it means the a three game lead in the West. I don’t know about all of you guys but that would make me pretty happy, and Vanderbilt put a thump on them in the Hump. And Auburn is still the worst team in the SEC. And Auburn is still the worst team playing NCAA ball, ever.
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