There are no major league professional teams in Mississippi. Jackson has a minor league baseball team, the Senators, of the Central League. There is also a minor league hockey team in Biloxi, as well as teams in Jackson and Tupelo. The University of Mississippi has long been prominent in college football. "Ole Miss" teams won the Sugar Bowl in 1958, 1960, 1961, 1963, and 1970, and the Cotton Bowl in 1956. The Rebels play in the Southeastern Conference, as do the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Southern Mississippi is a member of Conference USA.
Other annual sporting events of interest include the Dixie National Livestock Show and Rodeo, held in Jackson in February, and the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, held in Madison in October and November l.
Football greats Walter Payton and Jerry Rice, along with boxing legend Archie Moore, were born and raised in Mississippi.