"Hail State" is the fight song and rally cry of Mississippi State University. The words and music were written by Joseph Burleson Peavey in 1939. The title of the song was adopted as the official domain name for Mississippi State athletics and for all social media platforms of the athletic department in 2014. [1]
Hail State, as the rally cry [2] of the athletic program at Mississippi State, began to rise in popularity around 2010. With the rise in prominence of the football team under Coach Dan Mullen and a major marketing push from the Athletic Department, the phrase began making its way into the everyday lexicon of the Mississippi State fan base.
Hail State became the official hashtag of Mississippi State Athletics and Academics around the 2010 football season. It has trended [3] nationally and internationally at different momentous moments in the recent athletic history of the university.
Mississippi State was the first university to paint a hashtag (#hailstate) onto a playing surface. [4] The football program painted #hailstate in the north end zone at Davis-Wade Stadium. This act and future hashtags was later banned by the NCAA for all institutions. [5]
Hail State is played by the Famous Maroon Band at the start of each home game and after each time the team scores. There are several abbreviated versions that are played as stand tunes or in combination with the full theme.
Hail dear ol' State! Fight for that victory today. Hit that line and tote that ball, Cross the goal before you fall! And then we'll yell, yell, yell, yell! For dear ol' State we'll yell like H-E-L-L! Fight for Mis-sis-sip-pi State, Win that game today!
Many Mississippi State fans replace the last line "Win the game today!" with "Go to hell Ole Miss!", a tongue-in-cheek jab at their rivals. Fans have also been known to shout this at the end of the U.S. National Anthem, regardless of the game, sport or team playing.
The Aggie Yell Leaders are a group of Texas A&M University students that lead Aggie fans in a series of "yells" during athletic events or other school events. The Yell Leaders are composed of five students who are elected annually by popular vote of the student body.
"Hail! Minnesota" is the regional anthem of the U.S. state of Minnesota. A variation is used as a school song of the University of Minnesota. It originated at the university in the early 20th century when some students decided to honor their graduating class with a new song. In 1945, the Minnesota State Legislature approved the tune as the state song.
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Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA Division I.
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"Hail Varsity" is the fight song of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (NU), written in 1936 by Joyce Ayres and composed the same year by Wilbur Chenoweth. The song is often played at Memorial Stadium during Nebraska's football games by the University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band and at other athletic events by the school's pep band.
"Hail to Pitt" is the most traditional fight song of the University of Pittsburgh, which is commonly referred to as Pitt. The saying "Hail to Pitt!" is also the most traditional and commonly used slogan of the University of Pittsburgh and its athletics teams. The slogan is frequently used in promotional material, printed on merchandise and souvenirs. It was also the title of a 1982 history of Pitt athletics by author Jim O'Brien. The slogan is often used among alumni as a statement of affiliation, including as a closing signature in conversation or correspondence between alumni, and is sometime abbreviated as "HTP" or "H2P", the latter of which is a registered trademark of the university and is frequently used on official university signage and merchandise.
The Famous Maroon Band is the name of the marching band at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. The Famous Maroon Band plays at all Mississippi State home football games and sends at least a pep band to a majority of the football away games. Typically, the full band also travels to bowl games, the Egg Bowl against the University of Mississippi, and at least one other away game per season. The band was formally established in 1902 at what was then called Mississippi A&M College and was a military band, as was the college at the time.
The Alabama–Mississippi State football rivalry, also known as the 90 Mile Drive or the Battle for Highway 82, is an American college football rivalry between the Alabama Crimson Tide football team of the University of Alabama and Mississippi State Bulldogs football team of Mississippi State University. Both universities are founding members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and are currently members of the SEC's Western Division. The two campuses are located approximately 90 miles apart and are the two geographically closest SEC universities.
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The 1961 Mississippi State Bulldogs football team represented Mississippi State University during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season. After the season, Wade Walker was fired as head coach, but continued to be the athletic director. This was the first season that Mississippi State athletic teams were known as the Bulldogs.