More cowbell! Mississippi State football eyes new world record vs Missouri
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Mississippi State is attempting to set a world record when it hosts No. 21 Missouri on Saturday, Sept. 26.
The Bulldogs, looking to start SEC play with a 2-0 record for the first time since 2014 with Dak Prescott, are aiming to break the record for most cowbells ringing simultaneously in world history during the game.
"Embrace your ears," quarterback Kamario Taylor said in a recent Mississippi State promotional video posted to social media.
Mississippi State still holds the official record of 5,748 consecutive cowbells ringing from Guinness World Records during a football pep rally in 2015. However, in 2025, the Milwaukee Admirals, a minor-league hockey team, set the unofficial new record with 6,768 consecutive cowbells ringing, although the total wasn't counted by Guinness World Records.
When the Bulldogs face the Tigers in Week 4, volunteers will wear bright green shirts to count cowbells as fans enter the stadium, the school announced. The school is collaborating with Elite World Records, a Guinness World Records competitor, as it attempts to break the new record.
"Organizers ask that fans be diligent to ensure all cowbells are counted upon entry," the school wrote.
Missouri is expecting a hostile environment when it faces Mississippi State. Quarterback Austin Simmons, a transfer from Ole Miss, has experienced Starkville, Mississippi, and its famed cowbells before.
He isn't a fan.
"I've been in this environment twice already in my career," he told reporters Sept. 23. "Of course, they're my old rival in the past. Honestly, it grows to be annoying, and I hate hearing this whole thing about the cowbell thing."
Mississippi State football attempting ringing cowbells world record
Mississippi State chose to partner with Elite World Records for its attempt at breaking the ringing cowbells record due to how Guinness World Records counts people, according to The Reflector, the student newspaper at the school.
Essentially, it'll be easier for Mississippi State to count more people toward its record attempt with Elite World Records, which holds a different standard for counting. Elite World Records will allow volunteers from the university to track on clickers how many participants enter and leave the stadium, whereas Guinness would require each attendee to wear a wristband and sit in a roped-off section of the stadium, all while charging $35,000 for the adjudicators to attend the game, per the report.
The report said Guinness World Records' strict rules are why Mississippi State's previous record attempt in 2015 was reduced from 15,000 expected cowbell ringers to 5,748.
While Mississippi State still has the official record, it wants to break the end-all, be-all record, which was unofficially set by the Milwaukee Admirals.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More cowbell! Mississippi State football eyes new world record vs Missouri
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