The Magnolia State has taken college football by storm.

Heading into Week 8, Mississippi State and Ole Miss are two of the Top 3 ranked teams in the nation. Nobody in their right mind predicted this type of start from the Mississippi schools, considering they’ve been the whipping boys for SEC foes to feast on for years.

SEC West rivals Alabama, LSU and Auburn have won six National Championships combined over the past decade, while the Mississippi schools were just hoping one day they’ll be able to compete.

Well, it appears that day has come.

The Bulldogs’ climb to the top spot has been historical. They’re the first team in the AP poll’s 78-year history to go from unranked to number one in five weeks. The previous fastest leap came from Ohio State back in 1954, who did it in six weeks.

Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen is keeping things even keel, but he’s not blind to the fact of how big this is for the university and community.

“I couldn’t be happier for the university, the students, the fans and the alumni,” Mullen said. “For so many years you try to accomplish something and to be able to say we’re the best at something is special. But for us as a team — they don’t give out the trophy midseason. We really haven’t accomplished all that much.”

While some will scoff at Mullen’s coach speak, he’s exactly right. The Bulldogs have been around 110 years, but they’ve never won a National Championship. Their best chance was all the way back in 1940, when they went 9-0-1 in the regular season, but they were beaten out for the SEC title, since Tennessee went 10-0.

On the other hand, the rise of Ole Miss has been something to admire in it’s own right. The Rebels don’t have a Heisman front-runner at quarterback like their in-state counterparts, but what they do have is a stingy defensive unit, allowing less than 12 points per game.

The nation took notice when the Rebels defeated Alabama, 23-17 last week and then followed up that performance with a dominant 35-20 victory over Texas A&M.

Much credit goes to head coach Huge Freeze. During the past two seasons in Oxford, Freeze has reeled in consecutive Top 25 recruiting classes, which headlines the number one prospect from the 2013 class, defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche.

“He’s getting so much better at understanding blocking schemes,” Ole Miss defensive line coach Chris Kiffin said, who has been around more than his share of dominant D-linemen. As a kid, he was a Bucs ballboy when his dad, Monte, was the defensive coordinator and had Warren Sapp as his star player. The younger Kiffin was an Ole Miss staffer under Ed Orgeron when they had SEC star defensive end Greg Hardy, and then Kiffin was on the Nebraska staff when they had All-American Ndamukong Suh.

Unlike Mississippi State, the Rebels hold claim to three National Championships, but they haven’t taken home the hardware since 1962.

Can both teams keep this elite level of play up?

Only time will tell, as Mississippi State still has dates with Arkansas and Alabama.

Ole Miss has a tougher road ahead, with LSU, Auburn and Arkansas remaining on the schedule.

If both teams are able to remain unbeaten for the next few weeks, we’ll have a pair of 11-0 Mississippi schools battling each other in Oxford on November 29th in the Egg Bowl.