2014 turned out to be the most historic run for the team. Led by quarterback Dak Prescott, the Bulldogs reached a No. 1 national ranking for the first time ever, doing so in both the Amway Coaches Poll and the AP Poll, after beating 3 consecutive top-10 teams (No. 7 LSU Tigers, No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies, and No. 2 Auburn Tigers). As a result, the Bulldogs became the fastest team in AP Poll's history to reach the No. 1 ranking, from being unranked, in only 5 weeks. They also became the first team to be ranked No. 1 in the new FBS Playoff Football Poll and held the top ranking for the first three weeks of the poll before losing to Alabama. However, at the end of the season, only one of the three teams remained ranked. Auburn finished 8–5 (4–4 SEC) and ranked No. 22, and lost to Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl, Texas A&M finished 7-5 (3-5 SEC) and beat West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl, and LSU, finished 8-4 (4-4 SEC) and lost to Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl. The Bulldogs couldn't sustain that momentum, and lost two of their last three regular season games, first to No. 5 Alabama 25–20 and then two weeks later to No. 18 Ole Miss 31–17. That loss knocked the Bulldogs out of playoff contention, leaving them 10–2 and ranked No. 7 by the College Football Playoff Committee in their final rankings. As a result, they were awarded a trip to the Orange Bowl against No. 10 Georgia Tech on December 31, 2014. Thanks to the Bulldogs’ inability to stop Georgia Tech’s heavy use of the triple option, State lost that contest 49-34. Mississippi State finished the season 10–3 and were ranked No. 11 in the final AP Poll.