Before I wrap this blog totally in maroon and white or continue talking about the Magnolia State, there’s something you should know.

A Coach’s Daughter was born with the intention of being about REAL Sports for TRUE Fans and NOT specific to a team or conference. Yes, I’m Mississippi State girl, thus a SEC girl, but that’s irrelevant. Going into this college football season, I knew I would be writing about electrifying victories, runaway Heisman trophy candidates and ‘forever familiar’ coaches amping up their stats to add to their chapter in football history books.

Admittedly, I was expecting to be writing mostly about Florida State, Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma or maybe Michigan State… and your typical power house SEC teams such as Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, and maybe Texas A&M. I was not alone – the national sports media had expected to be talking about the same thing.

So much for expectations!

Not only am I writing about something different, so is Sports Illustrated, ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, you name it – the sports world is all a buzz about a state down south and no, it’s not Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia or even Florida.

Last weekend was insanity at its best in college football and here we are in Week 7 with an AP Top 5 that looks like this:

1. Florida State
2. Auburn
3. Mississippi State/Ole Miss
4. None due to the tie at #3
5. Baylor

The key point to note here is the #3 spot; specifically Mississippi State – a team that wasn’t ranked at all pre-season. Their votes in Week 4 equaled what Duke received. In Week 5 they cracked the Top 25 at the 14th spot. After an impressive win against LSU they crept up to #12. Last weekend they dominated Texas A&M and ramped up to #3 – an all time record high in the history of the program. State is playing #2 Auburn on Saturday and if the Dawgs win, it’s possible they will bypass Florida State and move into the #1 ranked position… even if FSU spanks Syracuse, which I’m sure they will.

To stay true to the purpose of this blog, I will continue to focus on exciting electrifying match-ups and Heisman trophy candidates, but the faces of the coaches may be less familiar and prior to this year, their places in the football history books were merely a foreword or an acknowledgement. Now they’re writing their own pages in a new chapter.

What can you expect from “a Coach’s Daughter” this weekend? You can expect that references to Mississippi State will be abundant and not just from me – but also from the national media. ESPN College GameDay will broadcast for the first time in school history in the Junction by Davis-Wade stadium just like they debuted last weekend at Ole Miss in the Grove.

And if the Dawgs win AND Ole Miss beats Texas A&M, it will be a Magnolia State frenzy…. for the second weekend in a row.

HAIL STATE – GO DAWGS – MORE COWBELL!