STARKVILLE — Does Mississippi State deserve a top 25 ranking? Two months ago, the question would have seemed preposterous. Two weeks ago it would have seemed far-fetched.

Now? Maybe not so much.

Mississippi State’s 17-12 win over Alabama on Saturday was its third over a ranked Southeastern Conference opponent this season. It made the Bulldogs (6-4, 3-3) bowl eligible, moved them into third place in the rough-and-tumble SEC, and with two games left against Arkansas and Ole Miss and left open the possibility they could finish as high as second in the SEC West.

“We should be,” State coach Sylvester Croom said when the question was asked in Saturday’s postgame press conference. “If we’re not, I’m not going to cry about it. It doesn’t matter until the season’s over with.”

While Croom ever so subtly lobbied for a ranking (MSU received six votes in the latest Associated Press poll), Saturday’s win was more of a statement game for Mississippi State. A statement that the Bulldogs are heading in the right direction after six years in football purgatory. A statement that, with only a handful of senior starters, they’re an up-and-coming program in the SEC.

“We’re finally getting this program where we need to be. Going into the fourth year, it’s about time we stood up and showed it,” defensive lineman Titus Brown said.

Six wins is double the number State has had in each of its first three seasons under Croom, but may not mean much this season. The Bulldogs became the 10th SEC team to be bowl eligible, and Vanderbilt is only one win away. MSU will still need to win at least one or both of its last two games against Arkansas and Ole Miss to assure itself a December bowl game.

In a football season that’s been crazy since Appalachian State beat Michigan on opening day, it only makes sense that a New Year’s Day bowl for Mississippi State is not out of the realm of possibility.

“This game made us eligible. We still have to go out and fight with the intention of beating every team we play,” Brown said.

More likely, though, is a second-tier bowl for State, assuming it wins at least one more game. Representatives for the Chick-fil-A, Independence and Liberty bowls were all on hand to witness Saturday’s victory over Alabama. Whether it’s Atlanta, Shreveport or Memphis, or even Dallas or Tampa, a bowl game wherever it’s played will seem like heaven for the Bulldogs.

“I dreamed of this,” linebacker Gabe O’Neal said. “I really didn’t expect it to be turned around this quick.”