STARKVILLE — Mississippi State was rewarded for a historic year with a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, earning home field advantage all the way up to the College Cup in Cary, North Carolina. The road starts with a first-round game against Southern at 5 p.m. Saturday.

The Bulldogs (17-2-0) had their best regular season in program history this fall, winning their first-ever Southeastern Conference title and finishing a perfect 10-0 in conference play. They won 14 straight matches between late August and early November, falling only at Wake Forest early in the season and to South Carolina in the SEC Tournament semifinals.

“Obviously we would have loved to win the SEC Tournament, but it was good for us to get that loss now,” goalkeeper Maddy Anderson said. “We hadn’t lost since August, which is crazy, and so getting that loss was kind of necessary for us to regroup, get fresh legs, be at home, be able to train and fine-tune a couple things before heading into the tournament.”

MSU was also undefeated at home, scoring 22 goals without conceding once in 10 home matches. The Bulldogs nearly swept the SEC’s postseason awards — James Armstrong was named Coach of the Year, Anderson was named Goalkeeper of the Year, Riley Combs earned Defender of the Year honors and Macey Hodge was the Midfielder of the Year.

Fans in Starkville took notice of MSU’s success. A program record 2,617 attended the Bulldogs’ 1-0 win over then-No. 1 Arkansas on Oct. 4, and that record was broken again in MSU’s final regular-season home game against Kentucky with a crowd of 2,867. The Bulldogs clinched the SEC title with a road win over Texas A&M on Oct. 27.

“It means everything. We’ve built something so special,” Hodge said. “Playing in front of our community, our fans, they really give us that extra push and we know how much we mean to them. We’re doing it not just for us anymore, but for them as well.”

Ally Perry leads the way offensively with nine goals, including a six-match stretch in which she found the back of the net seven times. Hannah Johnson has a team-leading seven assists, including one on the extra-time goal in the first round of the SEC Tournament against Tennessee.

The Jaguars (9-9-2) won three matches in four days to take home the SWAC Tournament title. Southern, the No. 3 seed, outlasted No. 2 Grambling State on penalties, then beat top-seeded Texas Southern for the championship.

“We know who we’re playing. Now it’s up to us as a coaching staff to get to work and put together a game plan,” Armstrong said. “At this time of year, every team you’re going to come up against is a really good team. They’re conference champions, so they must have a lot of talent. Looking forward to studying them more in-depth here in the next few hours.”