The Egg Bowl provides bragging rights to the victorious Mississippi school every season, but it also leads to better in-state recruits.

Mississippi State has done a pretty solid job of recruiting under coach Dan Mullen. But for the most part, the Bulldogs have not landed big-time recruits like other teams in the SEC West. To keep up with the rising Ole Miss Rebels, Mississippi State will have to kept recruiting well inside the Magnolia State.

In Mullen’s first five seasons, the Bulldogs grabbed the most top 10 in-state recruits in Mississippi, landing 10 more than Ole Miss.

That has changed, however, since 2014. Over the last three seasons, including this recruiting class, Ole Miss has recruited more top 10 in-state commits than Mississippi State.

It is probably no coincidence that since 2013, the Bulldogs are 1-2 in the Egg Bowl. Over the prior four years, Mississippi State was 3-1 versus Ole Miss.

Here is a breakdown of top 10 Mississippi high school football players, according to 247 Sports, that have committed to Mississippi State under Mullen.

Year Player In-state Ranking
2009 Chad Bumphis, WR Second
Fletcher Cox, DT Third
Josh Boyd, DT Fourth
Tyler Russell, QB Sixth
Chris Smith, WR Ninth
Dennis Thames, ATH 10th
2010 Damien Robinson, OT Second
Kaleb Eulls, DE Sixth
Matthew Wells, ATH Eighth
Robert Johnson, WR Ninth
Michael Carr, WR 10th
2011 Dee Arrington, S Fifth
P.J. Jones, DE Seventh
James Maiden, DT 10th
2012 Quay Evans, DT Third
Nick James, DT Fourth
A.J. Jefferson, DE Seventh
Richie Brown, ILB Eighth
Xavier Grindle, RB 10th
2013 Chris Jones, DE First
Ashton Shumpert, S Fourth
Jake Thomas, OT Sixth
Brandon Wells, ATH Eighth
Gabe Myles, CB Ninth
2014 Jamoral Graham, ATH Sixth
Aeris Williams, RB Seventh
Gerri Green, ATH Eighth
Jesse Jackson, WR 10th
2015 Jamal Peters, S Second
Leo Lewis, ILB Third
Fletcher Adams, DE Fourth
Malik Dear, ATH Fifth
Timothy Washington, OLB Ninth
2016 Marquiss Spencer, DE Ninth

As the chart shows, the quantity of top 10 players is there for Mississippi State but not necessarily the quality. The Bulldogs have landed the top recruit in the state just once under Mullen. That one top recruit was five-star DT Chris Jones, who didn’t become an impact player.

The other disappointment for Mississippi State is just one top 10 in-state recruit in 2016. But that could change in a few days.

Mississippi State still has a chance to sign DE Jeffery Simmons, WR A.J. Brown, OT Scott Lashley and DT Kobe Jones. That would certainly help the Bulldogs’ class, which ranks 12th in the SEC.

With Ole Miss’ out-of-state recruiting seemingly getting better every year, Mississippi State will have to win the Magnolia State to keep up.