TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) – This Alabama-Mississippi State game is about current stars like Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, not the number of stars once bestowed as recruits.
If history and pedigree are on the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide’s side entering Saturday’s mega-SEC West showdown, the Bulldogs are the ones sporting the No. 1 ranking and perfect record.
It’s new territory for a one-sided rivalry between programs stationed some 85 miles apart geographically and worlds apart historically.
Mississippi State (9-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) and Alabama (8-1, 5-1) stand on much more even ground this season. Both are shoo-ins for the first College Football Playoffs if they win out. The Bulldogs hold the top spot in the CFP rankings, the Tide is fifth with a virtually guaranteed move up with a win.
Alabama, which has been dominant at Bryant-Denny Stadium, is an 8-1/2-point favorite whatever the rankings.