TEMPE, Ariz. – Mississippi State failed to earn a bowl game invitation last season, and this season it’s become a lot harder to earn one.

Before the season, it wasn’t hard to see a way for the Bulldogs to win six games. It wouldn’t be easy, though.

Eastern Kentucky, Toledo and UMass looked certain of victory.

Arkansas was considered a game for the Bulldogs should win and Florida was seen as a game they could be win. That’s five, so they only need one more win.

No. 1 Georgia and No. 3 Texas, barring some crazy cowbell magic, will lose to Mississippi State.

No. 9 Missouri and No. 14 Tennessee wouldn’t be that much of a surprise (still pretty big, by the way), but when you look at the pre-season schedule, you can’t count those games as wins.

So who remains on the schedule? Arizona State, Texas A&M and No. 6 Ole Miss.

For various reasons, these games cannot be dismissed as losses, but only one of them was against a team that was not ranked (at the start of the season): Arizona State.

Well, that can now be considered a loss as the Sun Devils won 30-23 on Saturday night.

Editors Jacob Bain and Taylor Hodges share their post-game reactions on what the loss means for Mississippi State.