Jackson Free Press

The Mississippi State women’s basketball team began the season ranked No. 10 in the nation in the Associated Press poll and No. 11 in the USA Today Coaches poll. Since the preseason rankings were released, MSU has steadily climbed in the poll with each win.

In week two of the season, the Bulldogs stayed at No. 10 in the AP poll but moved from No. 11 to No. 9 in the USA Today Coaches poll. MSU leaped to No. 7 in both polls after beating the University of Texas 79-68.

MSU outscored Texas 26-9 in the second quarter, taking control of a game where the first quarter ended with a 16-16 tie. The Bulldogs kept pace with the No. 8 ranked Longhorns for the rest of the game, but Texas outscored MSU in the second half.

That explosion in the second quarter allowed the Bulldogs to cruise to a win and up the polls. Week four of the polls saw the Bulldogs move up to No. 6 in the nation.

It looked like that ranking might take a major hit in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, which saw MSU traveled to the University of Iowa.

At halftime the sixth ranked Bulldogs were down 17 to the Hawkeyes at 43-26 and in danger of losing for the first time this season. In the second half, MSU slowly chipped away at Iowa’s lead and tightened up on defense.

The Hawkeyes were still up by 15 at the end of the third quarter even though MSU made a couple of runs in the quarter. MSU trailed by eight with three minutes left in the fourth quarter but wasn’t about let its perfect season end.

A three-pointer with 36 seconds left in the game allowed the Bulldogs to force overtime. MSU outscored Iowa 14-10 in overtime, completing the comeback victory.

MSU’s win snapped Iowa’s 96-game nonconference home winning streak and was the first time since 2012 that the Bulldogs won a game after trailing by 10 or more points at halftime. The overtime win propelled MSU to No. 5 in the country in the latest AP poll.

The Bulldogs made history by being ranked No. 5 in the nation. It’s the highest ranking the team ever achieved in program history and marks the 41st week that MSU is featured in the rankings.

The Bulldogs have three players that are averaging double-digits: Junior guard Victoria Vivians leads the way with a 14.6 points per game average; junior guard Morgan William is second with a 11.9 points per game; and junior guard Roshunda Johnson is third at 10.4 points per game.

After the comeback victory over Iowa, MSU moved to 8-0 on the season and rose up in the polls. In front of the Bulldogs are women’s basketball powerhouses, University of Connecticut at No. 1, University of Notre Dame at No. 2, Baylor University at No. …

The College Football Playoff matchups are set, and there is little argument that the four best teams made it in the playoffs. The University of Alabama, Clemson University, Ohio State University and the University of Washington are the four teams playing for the championship.

There really aren’t any teams that can complain about being left out of the playoffs. If someone wanted to, he or she could make a small argument for Pennsylvania State University, the University of Michigan and the University of Oklahoma.

Personally, I have always favored an eight-team playoff. That means all the teams above would be in, and the University of Wisconsin or the University of Southern California would be the eighth team.

In most years, an eight-team playoff would include all the conference champions from the Power Five conferences and three at-large teams. It took years just to get to a playoff, and adding teams will take time.

Two schools from our state got bowl bids. Another blog post will break down these two games before the teams play them.

The University of Southern Mississippi received an invite to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and will face the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Mississippi State University, thanks to a high APR score, ended up in the St. Petersburg Bowl against Miami University from Ohio.

USM earned the six wins for a bowl and will play on Dec. 17 in New Orleans. That is a short drive from Hattiesburg, so Southern Miss fans should help fill the Superdome up for this game.

MSU finished the regular season at 5-7 but is still in a bowl game. The Bulldogs will play the day after Christmas, Dec. 26, in sunny Florida. Miami went from 0-6, winning six straight games to make this bowl.

Besides the playoff games and teams from our state, other bowls have good matchups. Here are the games I plan on making time to checkout.

The University of Houston and San Diego State University clash in the Las Vegas Bowl, which Geico will present on Dec. 17. Two Group of Five teams are exciting to watch, but this game loses some luster, as the Cougars head coach has left to take the same job at the University of Texas.

Boise State University will try to take down another Power Five team in Baylor University during the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl on Dec. 27. The Broncos normally play some inspired football against teams from the major conferences, but Baylor floundered down the stretch this year.

On Dec. 28 in the Russell Athletic Bowl, two former Big East teams, the University of West Virginia and the University of Miami in Florida, will battle. Now the Hurricanes are in the ACC, and the Mountaineers are in the Big 12.

Former Big 12 member Texas A&M University faces current Big 12 member Kansas State University. The Aggies are now in the SEC and need to …

Gov. Phil Bryant created a task force today to address drug abuse in the state, specifically for the abuse of opioids and heroin.

Opioid abuse is up nationally and has been for the past two decades. Opioids include prescription pain killers, some nervous system depressants and some stimulant drugs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Gov. Bryant's proclamation claims that Mississippi is one of the leading prescribers for opioids. The governor will appoint voluntary members to the task force, but the proclamation does not specify a date when the task force will meet or for how long.

The Centers for Disease Controls tracks overdose related deaths, and from 2013 to 2014, the state saw a slight increase, from 316 deaths in 2013 to 366 in 2014. That number is not specific to opioid-related overdoses, however.