As recently as November, the Mississippi State Bulldogs were the top-ranked college football team in all the land.

Now, with their All-SEC quarterback returning and expectations at an all-time high, the Bulldogs are picked to finish last in the SEC West.

The incredible depth of the West Division aside, this seems like an unfair way to treat a team coming off a 10-win season.

Does the team’s schedule warrant the pessimism? Let’s take a close look at Mississippi State’s 2015 opponents and decide for ourselves:

FAVORABLE MATCHUPS

Mississippi State inherits a steady path to a bowl game, at minimum, in 2015. That’s thanks to a favorable out-of-conference schedule and an annual meeting with a Kentucky team that, while improving, has not been a factor since Rich Brooks was in charge. Mississippi State opens the year on the road in an in-state game that could’ve been cause for concern as recently as 2011, but Southern Mississippi just hasn’t been the same since former coach Larry Fedora left town. The Bulldogs should have little trouble going 5-0 with this portion of their schedule.

  • at Southern Mississippi, Sept. 5
  • vs. Northwestern State, Sept. 19
  • vs. Troy, Oct. 10
  • vs. Louisiana Tech, Oct. 17
  • vs. Kentucky, Oct. 24

BIGGEST GAMES

The Bulldogs have two huge games in the opening month of the season, and then two more at the close of the season in November. Beating LSU at Tiger Stadium last year was a defining moment. If 2015 is going to be more of the same, Mississippi State must win that Week 2 matchup, this time at home in Starkville. Wins over Auburn and Alabama, picked as the top two teams in the SEC West, are essential to any plans the Bulldogs may have of winning the division title. A Thursday night game against two-time defending SEC East champion Mizzou won’t be easy. The magnitude of the Egg Bowl at the end of the season is self-explanatory.

  • vs. LSU, Sept. 12
  • at Auburn, Sept. 26
  • at Missouri, Nov. 5
  • vs. Alabama, Nov. 21
  • vs. Ole Miss, Nov. 28

ROUGH PATCH

Not unlike last season, the Bulldogs face the potential for a November slide. It all starts with a game against Alabama, in which Mississippi State will seek revenge for the Crimson Tide ruining its perfect record and No. 1 ranking last season. The Egg Bowl against Ole Miss always presents a challenge in the final week of the season. But there’s an added wrinkle — a road trip to Fayetteville to play an improved Razorbacks squad sandwiched between meetings with the only two teams that beat the Bulldogs in the regular season last year.

  • vs. Alabama, Nov. 14
  • at Arkansas, Nov. 21
  • vs. Ole Miss, Nov. 28

TOUGHEST TILT

Figuring out a way to beat Alabama and Ole Miss is tough. But Mississippi State’s stiffest test may be repeating its success against Auburn. The Bulldogs were 38-23 winners last season, but the game moves to Jordan-Hare Stadium against an Auburn team with SEC championship aspirations. If Mississippi State is able to come away with this road win in late September, it will say a lot about the Bulldogs’ ability to contend for the conference title.

SEASON-DEFINING STRETCH

  • Sept. 12-Oct. 3

While it would be easy to point to the final three games of November for a season-defining stretch, in all likelihood we will know the direction of the Bulldogs season several weeks before that. Early in the season, Mississippi State will host LSU (and Northwestern State) before make road trips to play Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium and Texas A&M at Kyle Field. The possibility of a 4-0 record seems just as likely as 1-3 or anything in between. How the Bulldogs perform then will determine whether that late-November stretch is for the SEC West title or for bowl positioning.