STARKVILLE — Mississippi State is heading bowling.
After concluding its regular season with a 51-32 throttling of Missouri Saturday, the Bulldogs (3-7) were selected to face No. 24 Tulsa (6-2) in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth on Jan. 1.
With its selection, MSU has now been to a bowl game 11-straight years. The Bulldogs were below the usual six-win threshold, but that requirement was waived nationwide given the varying number of games teams were able to play amid the COVID-19 pandemic. MSU hasn’t played in a Texas-based bowl since the 1998 Cotton Bowl.
Tulsa will head into the contest after a 6-2 regular season in which the Golden Hurricanes’ only losses were to No. 21 Oklahoma State and No. 8 Cincinnati in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game.
MSU is in its first season under head coach Mike Leach after he was hired following an eight-year run at Washington State. Leach is also familiar with the Lone Star State having spent a decade at Texas Tech.
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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