We’ve reached Wednesday of the last week of fall camp, and across the Sip, Mississippi State and Ole Miss are shifting their mindsets and starting to prepare for game prep. Sure, Ole Miss and Mississippi State start with FCS opponents in Furman and Eastern Kentucky, but the mindset is the same. It’s time to put aside the fall camp, turn to game week, and prepare for the grind of playing in the Southeastern Conference while focusing on what they can control in football.

The upcoming football season in Mississippi is not just another season. It’s a season filled with unique elements that make it hard to describe the overwhelming anticipation unless you’ve been around the two programs of Mississippi State and Ole Miss. This season, Mississippi is buzzing with excitement that it has been lacking for years. On one side, you have the Jeff Lebby era starting, and on the other, Lane Kiffin has the Ole Miss Rebels prepared for a run at the SEC Championship and even a bid to the College Football Playoff. With a week remaining until the season kicks off, there’s not a town in Mississippi that isn’t talking about the upcoming season, and even folks are hopeful about the potential of Southern Miss having an incredible season.

Not to mention the excitement that’s always there for Juco football in Mississippi, coming into the 2024 season, the state of Mississippi has five teams in the top-15 rankings for Juco football, plus a top-ten ranking for Ole Miss. There’s a legitimate chance that Mississippi could have a Juco National Champion in East Mississippi or Northwest, a College Football Playoff National Championship contender in Ole Miss, and postseason bids from Southern Miss and Mississippi State. These potential outcomes are fueling the excitement and anticipation for the upcoming season. Only a few states have that much excitement heading into a football season; Mississippi is there with the likeness of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and even Texas.

The last time there was this much excitement for a season, Mississippi State won a National Championship in Baseball, and Ole Miss followed it up with a back-to-back National Championship for the state. Since that run, a change has come over the Sip; recruits want to come here, and there’s big name coaches across all the athletic departments, including Chris Beard, Lane Kiffin, Jeff Lebby, and even Chris Jans; there’s something that’s happening in the state that people on the outside looking in, have trouble with understanding. The momentum the state has going into the fall is contagious and will likely bump the state on the national scale.

All the action will get underway next Thursday night, the 29th, when Juco football across the state kicks off, while the big boys have to wait until the 31st to get things started. Southern Miss travels to Kentucky and Mississippi State, and Ole Miss will open the season at home on Saturday night, the 31st.