1972 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

The 1972 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. After the season, head coach Charles Shira, who had compiled a 16–45–2 record over six seasons, stepped down and focused solely on athletic director duties.^[1]

1972 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	4–7 (1–6 SEC)
Head coach	Charles Shira (6th season)
Home stadium	Scott Field Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium
Seasons ← 1971 1973 →

1972 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 7 Alabama $	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 5 Auburn	6	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 11 LSU	4	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
No. 8 Tennessee	4	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
Georgia	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Florida	3	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Ole Miss	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Mississippi State	1	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	Auburn	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS	L 3–14	40,000	[2]
September 16	Northeast Louisiana*	Scott Field Starkville, MS	W 42–7	21,000	[3]
September 23	at Vanderbilt	Dudley Field Nashville, TN	W 10–6	21,374	[4]
September 30	at Florida	Florida Field Gainesville, FL	L 13–28	42,712	[5]
October 7	at Kentucky	McLean Stadium Lexington, KY	L 13–17	37,500	[6]
October 14	Florida State*	Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium Jackson, MS	L 21–25	30,000	[7]
October 21	Southern Miss*	Scott Field Starkville, MS	W 26–7	26,000	[8]
October 28	Houston*	Scott Field Starkville, MS	W 27–13	29,000	[9]
November 4	at No. 2 Alabama	Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	L 14–58	57,171	[10][11]
November 18	at No. 8 LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	L 14–28	60,589	[12]
November 25	at Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Egg Bowl)	L 14–51	33,586	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[14]