Mississippi State University

Mississippi State might be famous for more Cowbell, but here’s the twist—while the Grateful Dead did grace Mississippi with one legendary 1978 show in Jackson, Starkville’s maroon-and-white Humphrey Coliseum never made their tour roster. Picture this alternate timeline: instead of ‘Hail State!’ chants, the arena echoes with a soaring ‘Scarlet Begonias’ as tie-dye swirls under the rafters. Though the Dead’s actual Mississippi magic happened 130 miles south, their freewheeling spirit still found its way to MSU through bootleg tapes and dorm-room singalongs. And somewhere in the multiverse, there’s a version of Humphrey Coliseum where Jerry’s guitar licks melted minds between basketball games—a cosmic ‘what if’ for Bulldogs-turned-Deadheads to ponder.