Mississippi State has five consecutive November games away from Starkville on its new schedule. I would use that stretch to judge how the Bulldogs adjust between opponents, while keeping last season's neutral-site record in perspective.
The university posted its nonconference schedule announcement on September 9. Its current 2026-27 slate puts these games between the November 9 home date and the next home game on December 2:
| Date | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|
| November 13 | Xavier | White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia |
| November 17 | UCF | Orlando, Florida, away |
| November 20 | Tulsa | Jackson, Mississippi |
| November 25 | Wake Forest | Paradise Island, Bahamas |
| November 27 | To be announced | Paradise Island, Bahamas |
Four are neutral-site games. UCF is the true road game. The November 27 opponent remains unannounced, so any assessment of the full stretch still has a missing piece.
Last season's losses need a closer read
Mississippi State went 1-4 in neutral-site regular-season games in 2025-26, according to its official results. The losses came against Iowa State, Kansas State, New Mexico and San Francisco. State beat Utah.
The margins split that record into different basketball problems. Iowa State won 96-80 and Kansas State won 98-77. New Mexico won 80-78, while San Francisco won 65-62. Two games ended within one possession. Treating all four as the same failure would make a poor starting point for evaluating this year's team.
Those scores establish outcomes. They do not establish that travel or an unfamiliar floor caused the losses. State also won its nonconference road game at Georgia Tech, 85-73. That result belongs in the comparison before anyone writes off the Bulldogs outside their own building.
The possessions around Josh Hubbard
Josh Hubbard is listed as a senior guard on State's current roster. His official biography records 22.1 points and 3.6 assists per game in 2025-26. He started all 32 games. Chris Jans has an experienced scorer to begin possessions with, and November gives him repeated chances to test the options around Hubbard.
Against Xavier, I would watch what happens if a second defender takes the ball out of Hubbard's hands. Can the next receiver attack the space that defender left, or does the possession stop until Hubbard gets the ball back? The trip to UCF gives State another opponent against whom to test its response.
The two Bahamas dates can show whether those decisions hold up within one event. The final opponent is still unknown. State can prepare its own offensive options now, then make the opponent-specific decisions when that matchup is set.
Nate Calloway's Duke road-game column considers how returning guards can organize difficult possessions. For Mississippi State, I would judge November by how quickly Hubbard's teammates turn extra defensive attention on him into a shot for someone else.
