Georgia Tech wouldn't play either Mississippi schools for decades while in the SEC. Of course, "rules" back then weren't.
The odd history between Tech, Mississippi State, Ole Miss (ajc.com)During his legendary 22-year tenure as Georgia Tech coach, Bobby Dodd took his team across the Southeast, to Dallas to play SMU, to South Bend, Ind., for Notre Dame and across the country to play USC.
But, though Tech was an SEC member for most of Dodd’s career, he never deigned to play Mississippi State, the Yellow Jackets’ opponent in the Dec. 31 Orange Bowl. Tech played Ole Miss but twice, once in a bowl game and once in a regular-season game scheduled by Dodd’s predecessor, William Alexander.
“Whatever is there to go to Mississippi for?” Dodd was quoted as saying. “We like to take our fans to exciting places and Mississippi isn’t one.”
Tech was not the only SEC team to take a pass on one or both of the Mississippi schools, though none to the same degree. Georgia has only played Mississippi State 23 times and didn’t play at all between 1915 and 1949. Vanderbilt and Mississippi State didn’t play each other between 1943 and 1969. Florida and Ole Miss have played each other 23 times, facing each other just eight times between 1936 and 1971.
