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In our NextGen Mississippi survey, we asked Mississippians why they left the state. Here’s a sampling of what they said.

“I left Mississippi because there is a lack of opportunity, of diversity, of experience. I grew up in Mississippi and went to college in Mississippi, but as soon as I could leave, I did. It’s home and it’s beautiful, but it’s a state that is hurting — deeply, bitterly divided at the core. I believe in Mississippi, but I’m constantly let down.”

“I left immediately post-graduation because there are no real job opportunities within my profession; at least of the caliber that I desire to work in.”

“I left for better more diverse job opportunities and better support of women.”

“I left for better-ranked schools, and I’ve stayed away because there are no job opportunities in Mississippi that could come close to competing with what I can find on the coasts. I wish coming home was a better option for me.”

View more responses and take the NextGen Mississippi survey here.

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The U.S. Supreme Court this week eliminated one of the reasons cited by Mississippi Republican leaders for not expanding Medicaid.

The nation’s highest court rejected, in a 7-2 decision, a lawsuit asking that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — better known as Obamacare — be struck down. It was the third such lawsuit rejected by the Supreme Court in recent months. The lawsuit was filed by Texas and joined by 17 other Republican-led states, including by former Gov. Phil Bryant on behalf of Mississippi.

A key provision in the Affordable Care Act is the expansion of Medicaid to provide health care coverage to primarily the working poor. The lawsuit rejected Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court asked that the entire law, including the expansion of Medicaid, be tossed out.

One of the reasons state leaders, such as Gov. Tate Reeves, has used for not expanding Medicaid is that there was no assurance, they claimed because of the lawsuits, that the program would remain in place. They argued that if they expanded Medicaid in Mississippi and the program was dropped by the federal government, the state would be left responsible for providing health insurance to up to 300,000 Mississippians or dropping their coverage.

Twelve states, including Mississippi, have not expanded Medicaid. While state leaders have cited the possibility of the federal government or the courts eliminating a program that 38 states participate in, the primary reason Mississippi leaders said they do not want to expand Medicaid is because it will mean additional costs to the state.

“I am not open to Medicaid expansion,” Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn said at the end of the 2021 session in April. “… I don’t see Medicaid expansion as something that is beneficial to the state of Mississippi. I just don’t think the taxpayers can afford it. That is what it boils down to is the taxpayers. It is their money. I just don’t have taxpayers calling saying we want you to raise taxes so we can expand Medicaid.”

The federal government pays 90% of the costs for Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion proponents have argued that in addition to the 90% match, the influx of federal money — estimated at $1 billion per year — would be an economic boon to the state.

Plus, the American Rescue Plan, approved by Congress earlier this year and signed into law by President Joe Biden, offers additional financial incentive for the holdout states to expand Medicaid. It has been estimated that the incentive would be more than $600 million for Mississippi over a two-year period.

The lawsuit was essentially rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court this week because the majority said the states could not prove any harm from the Affordable Care Act.

If the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the Texas lawsuit, that could have placed health care coverage in jeopardy for 31 million Americans and could have placed in jeopardy coverage of pre-existing conditions for millions more.

The Texas lawsuit said among the reasons the law should be rejected is that in recent years under former President Donald Trump, the mandate that people had to purchase insurance was dropped. They claimed in earlier Supreme Court rulings the individual mandate was cited as a tax and with that tax removed the law was unconstitutional.

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A private school district in Mississippi has terminated the contracts of all teachers at two of its schools and failed to pay them for days already worked, a signal that their doors will close for good and leave dozens of children without specialized education they struggle to find at public schools.

Both Oxford University School and the North New Summit School in Greenwood are members of the New Learning Resources School District, which has struggled financially since its owner was accused of defrauding the state and federal government. 

Last week, Mississippi Today reported that New Summit School in Jackson, which also missed paydays for its teachers, was working on a court custodianship to take over operation of the school. But the custodianship does not apply to the other New schools.

READ MORE: New Summit teachers miss paychecks for first time since owner was accused of fraud

The parents of students at New Summit School in Jackson worked to have the school placed under a custodianship, legally approved on June 1, in an effort to keep the school operational. Gary Herring, the court-appointed school custodian, sent an email to New Summit staff saying that the custodianship would begin without any funds to make payroll and he could not guarantee their success.

Nancy and Zach New originally stepped away from the New Learning Resources School District following their arrest for an alleged welfare embezzlement scandal, Clarion Ledger reported, but a federal grand jury also indicted them for defrauding the Mississippi Department of Education through the New Learning Resources School District. 

The New Learning Resources School District focuses on providing specialized services for students with behavioral or learning disabilities. As a private school group with public accreditation from the Mississippi Department of Education, schools in the district are funded through a combination of tuition payments and Education Scholarship Accounts, a voucher that allows public school dollars to follow special needs students to private schools.

Teachers at North New Summit, New Summit, and Oxford University School are all owed six paychecks for work already completed, according to four teachers who did not want their names printed for fear of retaliation. Teachers at Oxford University School estimated that the school district owes them between $3,000 and $6,000 for work already completed, depending on the teacher’s yearly salary. Oxford University School and North New Summit teachers received their termination letter on June 11.

While New Summit School in Jackson did not begin experiencing paycheck uncertainty until March, the Oxford University School has paid their teachers late almost every pay period since late September. Three teachers confirmed that the school consistently delivered their paychecks 3-5 days behind schedule. 

When one teacher attempted to report this to the Department of Labor, the department told her that a claim for non-payment would become void once the teachers were paid each time. 

The Oxford University School, founded in 1984, was not acquired by the New Learning Resources School District until 2019. Mississippi Today previously reported that the owners defrauded the Mississippi Department of Education through invoices from New Summit School and North New Summit, but the indictment did not name Oxford University School as part of the scheme. 

One teacher from the Oxford University School pointed out that while this partnership was intended to help the school thrive, it is ultimately the reason that they are closing.

Several teachers voiced concerns about what happened to the tuition money that parents paid if it was not being used to pay their salaries. Teachers interviewed from the Oxford University School were also frustrated by the lack of communication from administrators. 

“It was so dishonest for [New Learning Resources] to take advantage of a situation where you still had money coming in and people who really cared [at the school] not making much money anyway and to just not say anything,” one teacher said. 

Teachers were unsure if parents had been informed that the schools would be closing. 

The letter terminating Oxford University School and North New Summit teachers did not specify whether the schools would be closing for the upcoming school year, according to a copy obtained by Mississippi Today. The letter did say New Learning Resources would not have the funds to make further salary payments. 

Keith Davis, the principal of North New Summit School, could not be reached to discuss the future of school. Roy Balentine, the interim director of New Learning Resources, and Nancy New also did not return calls or text messages to Mississippi Today.

Nancy and Zach New have both pleaded not guilty to all charges and are awaiting trial. 

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Standing between two large, plastic trunks — faux branches and leaves crowding the ceiling of a former hotel-turned-government-office — Mississippi welfare officials announced the opening of a new child care resource center.

The colorful, well-decorated office, stocked with educational materials, toys and craft supplies, exists as a place for child care providers and parents to share ideas and receive training.

The language officials used to describe the new downtown Jackson center — “interactive space,” “lending library,” “resource and referral”, “network of support” — evoke images of the disgraced welfare program, Families First for Mississippi, that occupied the space before it.

The fake trees, previously purchased by embattled nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center using money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, embodied the nature of that now-defunct program: a façade.

TANF is the federal fund that states may use to provide cash assistance, what used to be called the “welfare check,” to very poor families.

But the new Resource and Referral Centers have a more defined mission to bolster and support private child care centers, the primary vehicle for early childhood development in the state, and they are funded by the Child Care Development Fund, not TANF.

“I’m so glad that we’ve been able to put this together. These are ideas that our child care division put together themselves. They designed this space themselves. Except for the trees, which were already here,” Mississippi Department of Human Services Director Bob Anderson said at the Wednesday ribbon cutting, eliciting laughter from press conference attendees. “They didn’t design the trees. We inherited those.”

The announcement comes from a department still reeling from an alleged $4 million embezzlement scandal that broke last year and an audit that uncovered the misuse of up to $94 million in federal dollars intended to provide assistance to needy Mississippians.

Officials made no mention Wednesday of what else they inherited.

Since Gov. Tate Reeves appointed Anderson to run the agency in March of 2020, the new director has implemented stronger procurement practices, financial controls and increased accountability among the department’s welfare grantees. Anderson also secured from the 2021 Legislature a $90 increase to the monthly welfare benefit — from $170 to $260 — the first cash assistance hike families have seen since 1999.

Similar to TANF, the Child Care Development Fund block grant provides child care vouchers directly to low-income families who need help affording daycare so they can go to work. But the federal government also encourages the state to use the flexible money on other programs, like training to improve the quality of care and promote early childhood education in private centers across the state.

Now, with the federal government increasing the child care block grant by $3.5 billion nationally in 2021, the state agency seems poised to redirect their focus to the child care industry, a major touchpoint between the state and families with small children, to improve early childhood education.

“Early childhood development is obviously important to me,” Elee Reeves, the wife of Gov. Reeves, said at the ribbon cutting. “What an amazing resource these centers are going to be across our state. I just think this is fabulous.”

Two child care initiatives implemented under former Gov. Phil Bryant’s administration also became defunct in Reeves’ first year as governor. One was Early Childhood Academies, through which the Mississippi Community College Board was supposed to provide training to private centers. And the other was a revamped quality rating system that replaced the former “star” rating of child care centers with either a “standard” or “comprehensive” designation.

The department is still partnering with individual community colleges in the state to help train child care center employees, though they are no longer called academies. The standard-comprehensive rating model was a dud, causing frustrations among child care providers.

Chad Allgood, director of the MDHS Division of Early Childhood Care and Development, told Mississippi Today that the most recent rating system expected quality improvements of centers but did nothing to provide resources to help usher that growth.

“Throughout the years I’ve worked in early childhood, I’ve seen a lot of change hit this industry. There have been some not-so-great decisions that have been made that have really, really impacted childcare providers in a negative way,” Allgood said. “…Knowing what childcare providers have had to deal with as you’ve seen these very large-scale changes, systematic changes, we don’t want to put them through that again.”

“When we go into their centers, it should be to help, not to point fingers and say, ‘You’re doing this wrong. You’re doing this wrong,’” Allgood added.

Allgood noted the particularly challenging time childcare providers have faced during the pandemic. At one point, as many as 70% of centers had ceased operations, Anderson said.

“We’re back to almost 90% capacity that has reopened, which is fantastic,” Allgood said. “And I will say that, in and of itself, is a testament to the dedication of our child care providers.”

For more than a year prior to the Wednesday ribbon cutting, the first floor office at 750 N. State Street had sat abandoned. Families First, the multi-million-dollar resource program for impoverished Mississippians, was previously located in the space, called the State Street Center. But it closed in February of 2020, just before the pandemic ravaged the nation’s economy and put millions out of work.

At that time, officials had just arrested Nancy New, the owner of Mississippi Community Education Center, which ran the center. The nonprofit is now defunct and has not filed its required annual reports to the Secretary of State’s office since 2018, a year it pulled $27.2 million in revenue.

Nancy New, her son and employee Zach New, the nonprofit’s accountant Ann McGrew and the former welfare agency director John Davis all await trial after pleading not guilty to conspiring to embezzle more than $4 million in welfare dollars from the nonprofit.

“We got to take a sneak peek at the center and the incredible services they provide to Mississippians,” conservative talk news radio station Supertalk wrote about Families First in September of 2019, when the State Street center opened.

In reality, the center offered virtually no direct services and served very few people for the amount of federal grant money, tens of millions, the nonprofit was receiving.

“We’ve got a learning library … parenthood classes. We’ve got a computer lab where we can do our online diploma program,” Will Lamkin, operation coordinator for the Families First center, said in a promotional video produced at the 2019 ribbon cutting. “We have centers all over the state that are more informational based, where this one is really hands on. And it’s super interactive.”

The morning before the February 2020 arrests, during a visit to the center, Lamkin told Mississippi Today the welfare-funded organization’s main goal was getting people off of welfare.

Instead, officials were using the money that flowed through Families First to enrich their family and friends, pay for lobbyists, luxury vehicles, religious concerts, expensive getaways, publicity events with famous athletes and even a speeding ticket, a state audit published in 2020 revealed.

Families First for Mississippi used an existing network of centers called Family Resource Centers, which dated back to the 1990s, to boast a presence in all 82 counties.

The Resource and Referral Network, the name of the new center on state street, has existed for many years as well, Allgood said, but has not been well marketed in the past. Allgood called it a “hidden treasure.” He hopes the center in downtown Jackson will serve as a model for future network sites, two more of which the department plans to open soon.

“This is what we call the discovery zone,” Allgood said during the Wednesday tour, attended mostly by Mississippi Department of Human Services or other state employees. “This specific area, we want children, we want their families, we want child care provides to come in, to interact with the different areas, play with the materials that are on the shelves. This is a very interactive space.

“We’re going to be offering, as Bob said, some pretty extensive training, what we call technical assistance, which is on-site, teaching early childhood teachers how to implement these things in the classroom. What we’re going to be setting up here are things that they can replicate using resources, using our make-and-take station.”

“This fun space that you’re looking at behind me, this is called our make-and-take area. And this is actually a place where teachers can come and make things … for their classroom,” Allgood said, standing in a room that used to be a free food pantry — containing mostly canned corn and green beans. Now the room is filled with colorful craft paper and shelves of bins holding glue, scissors and more.

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Gov. Tate Reeves told hundreds of business leaders on Wednesday that his main regret about his handling COVID-19 is that he didn’t deem all businesses essential and let them remain open during the height of the pandemic.

Reeves quoted William Faulkner as he bemoaned all the natural and man-made disasters he’s had to “endure” since he took office in 2020, including the pandemic, flooding and ice storms, a prison death and overcrowding crisis and the largest government embezzlement case in state history. He addressed about 800 members of the Mississippi Economic Council, the state’s chamber of commerce, in its annual meeting — the first large in-person gathering MEC has hosted since the pandemic.

“The biggest regret I had from 2020, and I did it because I believed it was the right thing to do to protect our economy from overzealous local elected officials, we worked with the Trump administration and made the decision to define some businesses as essential,” Reeves said. “It turns out about 80% or 85% of all businesses were defined as essential during that time, but as I look back on it I realize that I made a mistake, because the fact of the matter is that every single business in Mississippi is essential.”

After his speech, Reeves demurred on whether he regretted issuing any shut-down or other orders to slow the disease’s spread, but said that on whole, Mississippi’s per capita COVID-19 rates were on par with the rest of the nation, “even though we had little restrictions.” He said, “We got more right than we got wrong.”

But with 10,736 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 residents, Mississippi has the 21st highest infection rate in the country. Mississippi’s vaccination rate is the lowest in the country, although Reeves did not mention vaccination efforts in his speech.

“I think anybody in America can look back and nitpick decisions that were made,” Reeves said after his speech.

Reeves in his speech quoted author Donna Tartt: “‘Sometimes you can do all the right things and not succeed. And that’s a hard lesson of reality.’”

“I know that we made every decision based upon the data that we had at that time, but I also know that every single decision did not turn out exactly the way we wanted it to,” Reeves said.

Reeves told business leaders that despite the pandemic, new capital investment in Mississippi for 2020 reached $1.7 billion, far above the 10-year average of $900 million a year. He also vowed that the state’s revamped workforce training program, Accelerate Mississippi, will be a “game changer” for state business development.

MEC’s outgoing Chairman Anthony Wilson, president of Mississippi Power, thanked Reeves for allowing business leaders to help with pandemic policy decisions and said, “You have been a consistent supporter of the business community.”

Wilson noted that MEC’s first large in-person gathering since the pandemic included another first — its stage was under a huge new Mississippi state flag, without the divisive Confederate battle emblem of the state’s old flag. MEC helped pushed lawmakers to remove the old flag.

“Without a doubt, taking down the controversial state flag was a defining moment for our state,” Wilson said. He said the state has “removed a significant impediment” to growth and prosperity by changing the flag.

MEC’s incoming chairman is Retired Maj. Gen. Augustus “Leon” Collins, former state adjutant general over the state Army and Air National Guard, and the first Black person to obtain general officer rank in the Mississippi National Guard. Collins is now CEO of MINACT Inc., a workforce training and management company.

Collins asked the large crowd to “breathe” after he took the stage, and noted “how great it is to do that without a mask over our faces.”

“I think it’s a new day and we have an opportunity for a new beginning here in Mississippi,” Collins said.

Mississippi Today reporter Will Stribling contributed to this report.

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Gov. Tate Reeves and legislative leaders battled last year over who had the authority to spend $1.25 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds.

The Legislature ultimately prevailed in the spending control of the CARES Act funding, but part of the political compromise was granting the governor sole spending authority of $50 million.

One year later, Reeves has been allocated the $50 million but has spent only $20.7 million of that amount.

Reeves’ office, when contacted by Mississippi Today, would not provide any details of how the public money has been allocated and spent. But we obtained a breakdown from the Department of Finance and Administration, an agency that falls under the governor’s control.

Reeves allocated those funds to eight agencies — most of which fall under his direct control, according to information provided by DFA.

Governor’s spending

As of the end of May, the governor’s CARES Act funding disbursement consists of:

• Supreme Court: $2.5 million allocated and $459,568 spent
• Attorney General: $232,734 allocated and no money spent
• Auditor: $3 million allocated and $606,588 spent
• Department of Revenue: $1.5 million allocated and fully spent
• Department of Finance and Administration: $6.7 million allocated and $692,482 spent
• Mississippi Development Authority: $2.8 million allocated and $2.75 spent
• Department of Corrections: $812,855 allocated and fully spent
• Mississippi Emergency Management Agency: $32.5 million allocated and $13.9 million spent

READ MORE: CARES Act money was supposed to help Mississippi businesses. Did it?

Agencies contacted by Mississippi Today say they have used the funds to deal with issues related to combatting COVID-19. For instance, DFA spent $692,482 for such items as mailing out the checks to businesses that received grants through the CARES Act, to offset losses during the coronavirus lockdown and for other issues related to helping agencies that received CARES Act funding.

“How the remaining funds will be spent is yet to be determined, but they will be used on the unexpected expenses related to the pandemic as they arise,” said Marcy Scoggins, a spokesperson for DFA.

When the Legislature appropriated the funds in the summer of 2020 in multiple areas, such as grants for businesses, grants to health care providers to help with their effort to combat COVID-19 and in a litany of other areas, the CARES Act funds had to be spent by the end of the 2020 calendar year. But later in the year, the federal law was changed, giving states until the end of 2021 to spend the funds. But the money appropriated by the Legislature – with the exception of the $50 million provided to Reeves — still had to be spent by the end of 2021. It was incorporated into state law that most of the money not spent by then was deposited into the trust fund that provides unemployment compensation.

Other ways the money was spent

The judiciary originally was appropriated $2.5 million in CARES Act funding last summer by the Legislature. The Court spent nearly $1.5 million of that amount and returned the rest because of the mandate that the funds had to be spent by the end of 2020. But the governor also appropriated $2.5 million to the courts.

Beverly Kraft, a spokesperson for the courts, said the governor’s funds have been spent in accordance with oversight of the Department of Audit to help the judiciary statewide in dealing with COVID-19 issues and protocols.

Logan Reeves, a spokesman for the Department of Audit, said the agency had used the funds from the governor to provide oversight of all the CARES Act funding the state received to ensure it is being spent in accordance with federal mandates.

“We are trying to provide oversight on the front end,” Reeves said.

Jacob Manley, a spokesman for the Department of Revenue, said the $1.5 million the agency received from the governor has been spent:

• On law enforcement: $870,300
• On computer equipment: $397,595
• On cleaning equipment and personal protection equipment: $73,988
• On COVID-19 employee leave: $97,152
• On administering the small business relief payment program created by the Legislature: $34,722
• On complying with Centers for Disease Control safety guidelines: $26,240

Melissa Scallan, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Development Authority, said the agency spent $2.8 million “on administration of the CARES Act programs — Back to Business, rental assistance, independent schools, healthcare providers. We had a call center, set up a website, etc. so we could take applications and process them.”

MEMA, which received the largest allotment from the governor, has spent the funds on various COVID-19 response items, including $1.9 million for salaries, $1.5 million for a call center and $4 million for commodities purchased related to the coronavirus, according to Malary White, a MEMA spokesperson. MEMA has been responsible for procuring much of the PPE for the state and for many healthcare providers during the pandemic.

The post Gov. Reeves got $50 million in CARES Act money. Here’s how he spent it. appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Auto parts manufacturer Edelbrock announced today it will move its headquarters from California to DeSoto County, saying it will bring 200 new jobs to Mississippi. 

The Mississippi Development Authority says it has committed up to $1 million in grant funding to help the company with building costs for the Olive Branch facility. The project totals $14.4 million in corporate investment, according to MDA. 

“Along with the great popularity of the automotive performance industry in the Mid-South, Mississippi’s fantastic business climate, highly skilled workforce and strategic logistical competitiveness make our state the perfect home for Edelbrock, perhaps the most legendary name in the world of automotive performance,” MDA Executive Director John Rounsaville said in a statement. 

Edelbrock recently merged with Olive Branch company COMP Performance Group, which already had locations in DeSoto County and the greater Memphis area. The newly formed Edelbrock Group will have 80 headquarter jobs and 120 manufacturing positions. The company will also maintain 90 existing Olive Branch warehouse jobs. 

Edelbrock says it will fill the 200 new positions over the next three years. 

The City of Olive Branch, DeSoto County and the Tennessee Valley Authority are also helping finance the project. 

Edelbrock specializes in the production of upgrade parts such as supercharges, carburetors, and electronic fuel injection systems. 

“Edelbrock and our family of brands are iconic innovators in the performance automotive aftermarket, and we are excited to call north Mississippi home for the next chapter of our company’s 83-year history,” Edelbrock president Tim Jones said in a statement. “Olive Branch and DeSoto County offer everything that we value in a location, and we are excited to become an active and valued member of the local community.” 

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi will meet this morning with a group of House committee chairs, including Homeland Security Committee Chair and Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, to discuss House Democrats’ next move on investigating the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

House Democrats passed a bill last month with support from 35 Republicans, including Mississippi Rep. Michael Guest, calling for creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate the deadliest attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812. However, the bill was blocked by Senate Republicans, including Mississippi Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith. The final 54 to 35 Senate vote fell six votes shy of the 60 votes needed to prevent a procedural filibuster.

The unsuccessful bill, modeled after the commission that studied the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was the result of bipartisan negotiations between Thompson and the Homeland Security Committee’s Republican ranking member, Rep. John Katko of New York.

The commission would have been composed of 10 members, with both parties appointing half of them. Proponents of the commission said it was necessary for Congress to acquire a full understanding of the riot. 

As reported by Punchbowl News, Pelosi will meet with Thompson and other House chairs on Tuesday to decide how to proceed. House Democrats have several options: They could amend the original commission bill to include changes sought by Senate Republicans and send it back to the Senate for another vote; create a select committee; let the standing committees do their own investigations; or appoint one committee chair to take the lead.

Thompson has suggested to Pelosi that his panel should take the lead in the probe, although he’s happy to serve in whatever role the Speaker chooses. 

“If I’m offered it (running the investigation), I will. If I’m offered to be on the select committee, I’ll serve,” Thompson said in an interview with Punchbowl on Monday night. “My preference is to get the commission done… It’s her call. I have indicated my interest in participation in whatever it is.”

READ MORE: Mississippi’s GOP congressmen voted to overturn Biden win in Arizona, Pennsylvania.

READ MORE: Congressmen Kelly, Guest met with Mississippi ‘patriot’ group before Capitol riot

READ MORE: Meet the ‘patriot’ group that scored a meeting with U.S. Reps. Kelly, Guest

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STARKVILLE — There’s nothing quite like college baseball in Mississippi. Mississippi State’s Diamond Dogs and their passionate following made certain the rest of the nation saw it Monday night.

The Bulldogs fought off Notre Dame’s free-swinging Fighting Irish 11-7 before still another record-setting crowd at pristine Dudy Noble Field. A rocking, thunderous standing room only crowd brought the three-day attendance total to an NCAA Super Regional record-shattering 40,140. 

Bulldog faithful came early, they stayed late. They left fulfilled — if they ever left at all.

“They’re still out there,” State coach Chris Lemonis said, a full hour after the game when he conducted his post-game video interview. “They are the best fans in the country.”

Thus the Bulldogs will make a 12th appearance in the College World Series at Omaha that begins this weekend. State will play the Texas Longhorns Sunday night in the opening round.

But here’s the deal: There’s no way — no way possible — the College World Series, college baseball’s largest stage, can match the atmosphere on display over three days of a marvelous Starkville Super Regional.

The baseball was terrific. The atmosphere — from the crowd hanging on every pitch, to the barbecue smoke wafting in from the outfield, to the raucous cheering at all the right moments — was remarkable. And don’t think the crowd didn’t play into the outcome. It most certainly did. Link Jarrett, the Notre Dame coach, called it “the most passionate fan base in the country.”

“It factors in,” Jarrett said of the constant noise. “It gives the home team an edge in energy. We haven’t played a game in a setting like this. Until you experience it in this setting, you can’t prepare for it.”

The Bulldogs were good. Rowdey Jordan and Tanner Jordan were racing and diving all over the outfield, making run-saving, SportsCenter catches. They were racing all around the bases, taking extra bases, too. Catcher Logan Turner was providing the power with a three-run home run and a double. Left-hander Houston Harding was crucial with four innings of quality starting pitching. And, of course, closer Landon Sims was matching a season-high four innings of relief, shutting the door on the Irish.

All rode a crest of cheering from State fans. Asked to describe the lift from the crowd, Harding said, “It’s what I’ve dreamed about since the first day I picked up a baseball. Unreal, indescribable, I could run out of adjectives to describe it. They brought the energy every day.”

State had won the opener 9-8 Saturday before more than 14,000. Notre Dame won 9-1 on Sunday to set up the rubber match. And then came Monday when State scored six second inning runs to take a 7-1 lead and then fought off the Irish the rest of the way. 

What made the victory all the more rewarding was, well, Notre Dame. The Irish, the run-away Atlantic Coast Conference champions, had run through the South Bend Regional, winning three games by a 50-5 count. Batter after batter, up and down the Notre Dame batting order, was a line drive waiting to happen. Those guys can play.

And then there’s Irish cleanup hitter Niko Cavadas, the muscular one we will be watching someday in the Major Leagues. State pitched him carefully all weekend, until Sims served up a three-ball, one-strike fastball in the seventh inning with a runner on first. Cavadas blasted it far, far beyond the right field fence and the light poles. “Oh man, he got on that ball,” Sims said. “No, I have never given up a home run that went that far. Ever.”

It was the first home run Sims gave up all year. However, it should be noted, with runners on first and second in the ninth inning, Sims got Cavadas to ground into a game-ending double play. “I wasn’t about to throw him another fastball,” Sims said.

And that’s when the celebration began. After the Bulldogs had dog-piled near the pitcher’s mound, the crowd stayed and cheered while State players circled Dudy Noble Field, slapping high fives with their adoring fans. It went on and on and on. From the first base dugout, Notre Dame players watched while consoling one another.

Mississippians shouldn’t take all this for granted. No other state matches this state’s passion for college baseball. Ole Miss bowed out in a three-game Super Regional at Arizona. Ole Miss ended Southern Miss’s season in a superb, well-attended Regional championship round at Oxford last weekend.

That said, Mississippi State continues to set the standard. Consider: Jordan and Allen, the two junior outfielders, will make their third College World Series appearances later this week. State has competed in five straight Super Regionals under four different head coaches. It’s crazy. And it’s nothing new. State has played in a College World Series in six consecutive decades.

The one thing they haven’t done? Win one.

Could this be the year?

“We’ve got as good a chance as anybody,” Tanner said.

Maybe so. But if they could box “the Dude effect” and take it to Omaha, there’d be little doubt.

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