Why is it called the Egg Bowl? What to know on Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry
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It’s time for the annual Egg Bowl rivalry between Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
The 122nd meeting of the two Magnolia State foes is once again not taking place on the day of the week that it was played on for most of the last two decades, as it will kick off the Black Friday slate of college football games in Week 14.
The sixth-ranked Rebels (No. 7 in College Football Playoff rankings) and Bulldogs are slated for an early 11 a.m. CT kickoff inside Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi.
Friday’s iteration of the Egg Bowl has some extra juice to it from past years, as Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is expected to give his answer whether he’s staying with the Rebels or taking a different job, presumably the LSU or Florida job, following the game.
Another reason behind the significance of Friday’s game for the Rebels is a win would be the first of a three-leg parlay to get into the SEC championship game for the first time in program history. Ole Miss also would need an Alabama loss to Auburn and a Texas A&M loss to Texas to take place in Week 14 to punch its ticket to Atlanta in Week 15.
Here’s what to know on why the Egg Bowl is well named the Egg Bowl and more:
Why is Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry called the Egg Bowl?
The Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State rivalry earned its name of the “Egg Bowl” in 1979 thanks to former Clarion-Ledger sports editor Tom Patterson.
As noted by USA TODAY’s Kevin Skiver, Patterson coined the rivalry as the “Egg Bowl” because of the “sheer mundanity of the game that year.” The story was retold by Mississippi Today’s Rick Cleveland in 2017:
“The Bulldogs were 3-7 heading into the game,” Cleveland wrote in 2017. “Ole Miss wasn’t much, if any, better. Steve Sloan’s team was 3-7 as well. That’s why the late Tom Patterson, The Clarion-Ledger sports editor at the time, named it The Egg Bowl. If none of our teams were going to be good enough to go to a bowl game — and they weren’t — Patterson decided to create one and cover it with a special section.
“From a distance of 38 years I can assure you: Never has so much been written about so little. Instead of one game story, we had stories about each quarter of the game. As the new guy, I was assigned the first quarter. It was, of course, scoreless.”
The nickname has stuck ever since then.
The two teams also play for the Golden Egg Trophy, which preceded the current nickname of the rivalry game. The trophy debuted in 1927 and was created by students from each university to avoid any possible postgame shenanigans between the fanbases.
When is the Egg Bowl 2025?
- Date: Friday, Nov. 28
- Time: 11 a.m. CT
- Location: Davis Wade Stadium (Starkville, Miss.)
The 2025 edition of the Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State will take place on Friday, Nov. 28 at 11 a.m. CT inside Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi.
Ole Miss-Mississippi State Egg Bowl series record
- Series record: Ole Miss leads 66-49-6
- Ole Miss’ last win: 2024 (26-14)
- Mississippi State’s last win: 2022 (24-22)
As noted by Ole Miss’ game notes, the Rebels hold a 66-49-6 lead in the all-time series against the Bulldogs. And since the first “Battle of the Golden Egg” trophy was handed out in 1927, Ole Miss is 60-30-5 against Mississippi State.
The Rebels have won four of the last five meetings in the annual rivalry game, with the lone win for the Bulldogs coming in 2022 in Oxford on Thanksgiving Night.
Here’s the results from the past five Egg Bowl games:
- 2024: Ole Miss 26, Mississippi State 14
- 2023: Ole Miss 17, Mississippi State 10
- 2022: Mississippi State 24, Ole Miss 22
- 2021: Ole Miss 31, Mississippi State 21
- 2020: Ole Miss 31, Mississippi State 24
Click here to view the full results of the Egg Bowl.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Egg Bowl nickname, explained for on Ole Miss-Mississippi State rivalry
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