It was easy and pretty this past weekend at the Blue-Gray Classic in Montgomery, Ala. as the Bulldogs did not drop a match en route to three straight shutouts.
Confidence is at an all-time high for the Bulldogs having won five straight and recently improving to 9-2 and a No. 14 national ranking, but the competition will get stiffer this weekend when they begin SEC play this weekend against a top-15 team. Senior Louis Cant said he was happy with the team’s performance as of late, but knows a tougher road lies ahead for the Bulldogs.
 ”We’re ready to go. We’ve done well so far. We have to do well in these next matches,” he said.
The Dogs now turn their attention to conference play as they host Alabama at 2 p.m. this afternoon and Auburn Sunday at 1 p.m.
The 5-4 Crimson Tide, led by senior Vikram Reddy (13-6) and junior Daniil Proskura (13-6), has had an up-and-down season starting out 1-3 but has recently won four of its last five.
Alabama also competed in the Blue-Gray Classic, winning matches against Cornell and Clemson.
Mississippi State and Alabama share two common opponents, TCU and Texas Tech. The Bulldogs defeated Texas Christian 4-1 and Texas Tech this past weekend 4-0, while the Crimson Tide dropped matches to both teams, losing 4-3 to TCU and 4-0 to Tech.
While that does not have any impact on the match Friday, it does hint at the fact that State may hold an upper hand, especially at home.
The real test for the Bulldogs will probably come Sunday in the form of the No. 12 Auburn Tigers, a matchup senior George Coupland said will be a good  challenge for MSU.
 ”I think it will be a good matchup for us. Their players are so good; if you are slightly off, they are on to you,” he said.
Like State, Auburn went undefeated last weekend at the Blue-Gray Classic to improve to 10-2 and look to carry that momentum this weekend as it  travels to Oxford tonight and then Starkville Sunday.
Auburn’s big guns, junior Andreas Mies (18-4) and sophomore Daniel Cochrane (15-5), continue to steadily improve an already talented squad.
The two teams have no common opponents but do have similar resumes, losing to two highly ranked teams and taking care of their lesser opponents.
Recently, the Bulldogs have dominated the Tigers, winning four in a row.
“The past few years, we’ve seemed to have had no problem with Auburn,” Coupland jokingly said.
For the Dogs to make it five, there are things they still need to improve on.
“We need to start improving doubles a lot,” Cant said. “We need to stay aggressive and take it to them.”
Both Auburn and Alabama will provide tests for the Bulldogs, as will any in this conference, but, if State plays the way they are capable of, they can beat anybody.
For continued success in an always-tough SEC everybody must keep contributing and playing at a high level.
Along with Cant and Coupland, James Chaudry is sitting at 12-7 on the season while Artem Illyushin has come along winning three in a row.
After this weekend, State welcomes the No. 2 ranked Virginia Cavaliers Tuesday. Next, it is all SEC until May as State travels to Georgia and Tennessee the following weekend.
The Bulldogs have already racked up impressive wins, defeating the likes of Texas Tech, Ole Miss and TCU, while dropping matches against highly ranked teams Ohio State and Texas A&M.
For Mississippi State, the talent, confidence and intangibles are there, and now is the time to find out how they stack up against tougher competition in the SEC.