2012 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

The 2012 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Dan Mullen, who was in his fourth season with Mississippi State. The Bulldogs played their home games at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi, and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

2012 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
Gator Bowl, L 20–34 vs. Northwestern
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Western Division
2012 record	8–5 (4–4 SEC)
Head coach	Dan Mullen (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Les Koenning (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread option
Defensive coordinator	Chris Wilson (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Geoff Collins (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium (Capacity: 55,082)

2012 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 5т Georgia xy		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 9 Florida x%		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 8 South Carolina		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 23 Vanderbilt		5	–	3					9	–	4
Missouri		2	–	6					5	–	7
Tennessee		1	–	7					5	–	7
Kentucky		0	–	8					2	–	10
Western Division
No. 1 Alabama x$#		7	–	1					13	–	1
No. 14 LSU		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 5т Texas A&M		6	–	2					11	–	2
Mississippi State		4	–	4					8	–	5
Arkansas		2	–	6					4	–	8
Auburn		0	–	8					3	–	9
Ole Miss*		0	–	5					0	–	6
Championship: Alabama 32, Georgia 28
– BCS National Champion $ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant * Ole Miss vacated all wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 pm	Jackson State*		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECRN	W 56–9	55,082
September 8	11:00 am	Auburn		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	W 28–10	56,111
September 15	6:00 pm	at Troy*		Veterans Memorial Stadium Troy, AL	ESPN3	W 30–24	29,013
September 22	6:00 pm	South Alabama*	No. 23	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	Bulldog Sports Properties	W 30–10	55,186
October 6	11:21 am	at Kentucky	No. 20	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	SECN	W 27–14	49,498
October 13	8:00 pm	Tennessee	No. 19	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN2	W 41–31	57,831
October 20	6:00 pm	Middle Tennessee*	No. 15	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN2	W 45–3	55,108
October 27	7:30 pm	at No. 1 Alabama	No. 13	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	CBS	L 7–38	101,821
November 3	11:00 am	No. 16 Texas A&M	No. 17	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	L 13–38	55,240
November 10	6:00 pm	at No. 5 LSU	No. 22	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 17–37	92,831
November 17	11:21 am	Arkansas		Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN	W 45–14	54,838
November 24	6:00 pm	at Ole Miss	No. 25	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Egg Bowl)	ESPNU	L 24–41	61,005
January 1	11:00 am	vs. No. 21 Northwestern*		EverBank Field Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ESPN2	L 20–34	48,612
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:[1]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	23	21	20	19	15	13	17	22	RV	25	RV	NR	NR
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	23	19	19	18	16	12	18	23	RV	24	RV	RV	NR
Harris	Not released						17	14	12	15	20	25	23	RV	RV	Not released
BCS	Not released							12	11	15	21	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released

References

1. "2012 Mississippi State Bulldogs Football Schedule". Retrieved December 28, 2011.