Wednesday, the Mississippi State athletic department released the 2007 football schedule for head coach Sylvester Croom and his players. Scheduling difficulties between MSU and Jacksonville State University kept the final schedule from being completed.
The two universities were set to play each other Sept. 22, but a conflict arose when the Ohio Valley Conference, Jacksonville State’s conference, scheduled the Gamecocks to play a home game against Eastern Kentucky.
With MSU being forced to find a replacement Jacksonville State, will have to pay a buyout of $150,000 for breaking its contract with Mississippi State.
In place of Jacksonville State, the Bulldogs will add Gardner-Webb to the football schedule.
Gardner-Webb, a Division I-AA school located in North Carolina, plays in the Sun Belt Conference. The Runnin’ Bulldogs finished 6-5 last season.
“We look forward to the opportunity to visit Mississippi State,” Gardner-Webb athletic director Chuck Burch said. “Obviously it’s going to be a big challenge for our football team.”
Burch added that Mississippi State will be the first SEC school the Gardner-Webb has faced in football, and this season will be the first time it plays schools from BCS conferences, with Ohio University being the other school.
State will open the season against Western Conference foe LSU on August 30 at Davis Wade Stadium. The Thursday night contest against the Tigers will be nationally televised on ESPN. The game also marks the second consecutive year that MSU has played in the first televised football game of the year.
State will then go on the road for the next two games, going to New Orleans to face Tulane, and then the Bulldogs will face Auburn.
The Bulldogs other home games include matchups with the University of Alabama-Birmingham and the University of Tennessee, which rotates back ino the Dawgs’ schedule on Oct. 13.
State will close out the season with home games against The Crimson Tide of Alabama and Ole Miss.
The Battle for the Golden Egg has been moved to Friday Nov. 23 to accommodate SEC broadcasting partners Lincoln Financial. The game is set to begin at noon.
The Bulldogs will travel on the road to South Carolina, the team it opened the season with last year.
The Bulldogs will also travel to Morgantown, W.V., to face the Mountaineers. Kentucky and Arkansas are the other two scheduled road trips for the Bulldogs.