2002 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team

The 2002 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University as a member of the Western Division of the Southern Conference (SEC) during the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by 12th-year head coach Jackie Sherrill, the Bulldogs compiled an overall record of 3–9 with a mark of 0–8 in conference play, placing last out of six teams in the SEC's Western Division.^[1] Mississippi State played home games at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi.

2002 Mississippi State Bulldogs football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	Western Division
Record	3–9 (0–8 SEC)
Head coach	Jackie Sherrill (12th season)
Offensive coordinator	Sparky Woods (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Joe Lee Dunn (7th season)
Home stadium	Davis Wade Stadium
Seasons ← 2001 2003 →

2002 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Eastern Division
No. 3 Georgia x$		7	–	1					13	–	1
Florida		6	–	2					8	–	5
Tennessee		5	–	3					8	–	5
Kentucky		3	–	5					7	–	5
South Carolina		3	–	5					5	–	7
Vanderbilt		0	–	8					2	–	10
Western Division
Arkansas xy		5	–	3					9	–	5
No. 14 Auburn x		5	–	3					9	–	4
LSU x		5	–	3					8	–	5
Ole Miss		3	–	5					7	–	6
Mississippi State		0	–	8					3	–	9
No. 11 ^Alabama		6	–	2					10	–	3
Championship: Georgia 30, Arkansas 3
$ – BCS representative as conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – Alabama had the best division record, but did not participate in postseason play due to NCAA probation. Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	5:00 pm	at No. 15 Oregon*	Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR	FSN	L 13–36	56,386
September 14	6:00 pm	No. 24 (I-AA) Jacksonville State*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS		W 51–13	47,456	[2]
September 19	6:45 pm	Auburn	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	ESPN	L 14–42	52,583
September 28	11:30 am	at No. 22 LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, Louisiana (rivalry)	JPS	L 13–31	90,793
October 5	12:00 pm	at South Carolina	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC		L 10–34	80,250
October 12	1:30 pm	Troy State*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS		W 11–8	49,546
October 19	7:00 pm	at Memphis*	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN		W 29–17	28,209
November 2	1:30 pm	Kentucky	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	PPV	L 24–45	45,248
November 9	1:00 pm	at No. 11 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	PPV	L 14–28	83,818
November 16	11:30 am	Tennessee	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	JPS	L 17–35	54,807
November 23	1:30 pm	Arkansas	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS		L 19–26	40,108
November 28	6:45 pm	at Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS (Egg Bowl)	ESPN	L 12–24	60,245
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[3]