By Cody Thomason

The Vicksburg Post

The new slate of SEC games for the 2018/2019 season has been released, and it features plenty of intriguing matchups.

Mississippi State will be faced with what is probably the toughest SEC schedule Ben Howland has seen in his tenure with the Bulldogs.

They have home and home series with Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Kentucky and South Carolina, and will also face Florida, LSU, Missouri and Texas A&M at home.

The Bulldogs will also travel for away games at Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Mississippi State finished with a 25-12 record last season, which was good for seventh in the SEC, and notched a 9-9 record in conference play.

Their season ended in the National Invitational Tournament semifinals, falling 75-60 to Penn State.

This season, however, the Bulldogs will likely begin the year ranked in the top 25 by all major outlets.

Meanwhile, in Kermit Davis’ first season at the helm of  Ole Miss, their SEC schedule features home and home series with Arkansas, Auburn Georgia and Missouri.

The Rebels will also host Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M at the Pavilion. They will take to the road to face Alabama, Florida, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

Ole Miss parted ways with head coach Andy Kennedy midway through last season, and finished 12-20 and 5-13 in conference play.

As for the LSU Tigers, they will face Alabama, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Florida and Georgia in home and home series.

They will also face Auburn, South Carolina, Tennesse and Vanderbilt at home.

For their away games, LSU will travel to take on Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Missouri.

The Tigers finished 18-15 last season, and went 8-10 in SEC play.