Report: Mississippi State, SMU schedule home-and-home series beginning in 2024-25 season

According to Jon Rothstein, Mississippi State and SMU have scheduled a home-and-home series beginning in the 2024-25 season. While no date is being reported, Rothstein says the first matchup will take place at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.

Starkville will play host the following season, setting up a matchup between ACC and SEC programs.

“Mississippi State and SMU will begin a home-and-home series next season in Dallas, a source told College Hoops Today,” Rothstein said. “There will be a return game in Starkville during the 2025-26 season. An official date is TBD.”

This is the second ACC school Mississippi State has on its schedule. Pittsburgh will come to the Hump for the ACC/SEC Challenge in December. SMU, a brand new member of the ACC, was not included in the event but still gets a little last of the cross-conference rivalry.

Chris Jans looking to continue success at Mississippi State

Mississippi State gave head coach Chris Jans his first opportunity in a power conference and the results have paid off thus far. Two seasons have resulted in two NCAA Tournament appearances, something the program had not accomplished since 2008 and 2009.

While Jans is still waiting on his first win in the big dance, the consistency is something Mississippi State will be happy with. The next step will be getting back into the field and finding a way to advance to the second round or maybe even the school’s first Sweet 16 since 1996 when they made the Final Four.

Plenty of quality games will take place against SEC foes but Jans knows the importance of playing good opponents outside of your conference.

SMU beginning new era with Andy Enfield in ACC

Conference realignment occurs because of football money, moving SMU into the SEC. They are accompanied by Cal and Stanford, making for an interesting dynamic on the gridiron.

But those in ACC Country care about basketball just as much, if not more. SMU felt they really needed to upgrade before joining the conference, firing head coach Rob Lanier and hiring Andy Enfield away from the USC Trojans.

Enfield has admitted he would not have accepted the SMU job if not for the new conference affiliation. The goal is to now be competitive right away, hoping to hold their own in a step up in the competition level. Scheduling games in the nonconference like Mississippi State will prepare them for the task.