Mississippi State and Kentucky are charter member of the SEC, but prior to 1990 they had only played 17 times in football.
Since 1990, the Bulldogs and Wildcats have played every year. In 1992, when the SEC expanded from 10 to 12 teams, Kentucky, along with South Carolina, became one of Mississippi State’s permanent cross divisional rivals from the SEC East. When the conference schedule was modified to include just one cross-divisional rival, Kentucky remained State’s permanent Eastern Division opponent.
The official record book shows MSU leads the series 22-21, but the on-the-field record is 23-20 MSU, since the Bulldogs were required to forfeit their 1976 win over Kentucky due to NCAA sanctions.