Some college football rivalries are built around trophies, conference races and national stakes. Others feel personal before the players even step onto the field. Laura Rutledge has covered plenty of big games during her ESPN career, but one rivalry stands out because of what happens around the football itself.
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During an interview on August 11 with Cierra Clark, Rutledge was asked about her favorite rivalry. She did not choose Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, or another nationally obvious matchup. Instead, she picked the annual meeting between Ole Miss and Mississippi State, saying the intensity of the rivalry is often overlooked outside the state.
“I’m going to go a little bit off the beaten path here and say the Egg Bowl,” Rutledge said. “Mississippi State and Ole Miss. I don’t think people realize how much they actually hate each other, and some of the craziest games I have done have been Egg Bowl games.”
Rutledge has a good reason for that choice. She has worked the rivalry from inside the atmosphere, including games in Starkville, where Mississippi State’s famous cowbells can turn the stadium into a wall of noise. She also pointed to the scenes surrounding the game, saying the intensity can spill beyond the field and sidelines.
“Just the atmosphere, the environment. It depends on where it is,” Rutledge added. “If it’s in Starkville, the cow bells are crazy, the fights that are happening like not only on the field and on the sidelines, but also in the stands. That one is wild and doesn’t get enough credit for how crazy it is.”
Mississippi State’s cowbells are one of the defining sounds of a game in Starkville. The tradition is so closely connected to the Bulldogs that the SEC has specific rules governing artificial noisemakers. When the Egg Bowl comes to Davis Wade Stadium, the sound is part of the experience before the game even gets moving. Moreover, Rutledge’s description of the ‘hate’ between fan bases is especially true.
Perhaps the most famous chapter in the long, bitter feud between Ole Miss and Mississippi A&M, now known as Mississippi State, came after Ole Miss beat the Bulldogs 7-6 in 1926. Ole Miss fans stormed the field after the Rebels ended a 13-game losing streak. In the melee, fights broke out between fans from the two schools. That incident led to the creation of the Golden Egg trophy the following year. Each time one team beats the other, it gets to keep the egg for a year. And the rivalry has gotten hotter every year since.
In 2019, Mississippi State defeated Ole Miss 20-21 in a controversial finish.The final moments are more famous for what happened after Elijah Moore’s touchdown. Instead of a normal celebration, Moore mimicked a dog urinating after scoring. That drew a penalty that pushed Ole Miss’ extra point attempt even further back. The Rebels missed the kick, and the whole sequence of events became even more bizarre. The 2026 Egg Bowl is scheduled for Friday, November 27, in Oxford.