The Bulldogs played their home games at the newly expanded and renovated Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi and competed in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

In mid-October, they shot to #1 in the polls for the first time in school history, and the highest that any FBS team in Mississippi had been ranked at that late date in the season in half a century.

They netted a berth in the Orange Bowl, the second major-bowl appearance in school history, where they were defeated by Georgia Tech.

*Mississippi State won the games on the field in 1975 and 1976, but were later forced to forfeit the games by the NCAA due to an NCAA rules violation in which offensive lineman Larry Gillard received a 33 percent discount at an Okolona, Mississippi clothing store.

Following MSU's win over Auburn, the team was ranked Number 1 in the AP Poll for the first time in the program's history.