1. MSU 73, OLE MISS 67 (Men’s basketball, March 2): The signature win of coach Rick Ray’s first season as coach at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs snapped a 13-game losing streak by beating the Rebels in Humphrey Coliseum.
2. MSU 17, OLE MISS 10, OT (Football, Nov. 28): After losing to the Rebels last season, the Bulldogs made amends a year later by winning the first Egg Bowl game to go into overtime at Davis Wade Stadium. MSU secured the victory when Nikoe Whitley stripped Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace as he was going in for the game-tying touchdown.
3. NEW HOPE 3, PASCAGOULA 2 (Baseball, May 25): The Trojans won the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s Class 5A state championship by rallying from a 2-0 deficit at Trustmark Park in Pearl. For New Hope, it was the first state title in baseball since 2003.
4. STARKVILLE 45, MADISON CENTRAL 42 (Football, Oct. 18): The area’s best prep football game was for the lead in the MHSAA Class 6A, Region 2 race. Quarterback Princeton Jones had 226 all-purpose yards and scored five touchdowns to lead the Jackets. Madison Central, Starkville, and Warren Central each shared the region championship.
5. MSU 2, MISSOURI 1, 17 INNINGS (Baseball, May 21): MSU’s Southeastern Conference tournament championship title defense began with the longest game played in the annual event. In its first SEC matchup, MSU and Missouri played a tournament-record 17 innings before Mitch Slauter’s RBI single in the bottom of the 17th lifted the Bulldogs to victory. The game matched the longest game played by MSU and set a new record for Missouri.
6. MSU 50, GEORGIA 38 (Women’s basketball, Feb. 28): MSU’s biggest women’s basketball win for first-year head coach Vic Schaefer took place on Senior Night when it defeated No. 11 Georgia at Humphrey Coliseum. Martha Alwal had 12 points and 14 rebounds for MSU, which held Georgia to 18.2 percent shooting from the field.
7. STARKVILLE ACADEMY 56, HERITAGE ACADEMY 49, 2OT (Boys basketball, Jan. 29): The Volunteers and Patriots played the first of three boys basketball games that were all decided in the closing minutes. Starkville Academy won thanks in part to Carnail Minor, who scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the two extra sessions.
8. NEW HOPE 2, SALTILLO 1 (Girls soccer, Jan. 22): In its MHSAA North State Class 5A playoff opener, the Lady Trojans had to work overtime to secure the road victory. Reagan Hern scored the game-winning goal less than five minutes into the first overtime.
9. MSU 4, OREGON STATE 1 (Baseball, June 21): Not only did this set a new school record by giving MSU its third win in a College World Series, but it also advanced the Bulldogs to the national championship series for the first time. A fifth-inning, three-run home run by Hunter Renfroe gave the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead.
10. EMCC 90, COAHOMA C.C. 7 (Football, Sept. 28): During their national championship run, the Lions played their most complete game on Homecoming afternoon at Sullivan-Windham Field. EMCC scored on 12 of 13 possessions and had 734 yards of total offense in matching the national junior college record for most points in a game.
— List compiled by Scott Walters
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.