Get your brackets ready! March Madness is officially here and Mississippi State is back in the Big Dance for a second consecutive season.
Coming in as a No. 8 seed, the Bulldogs (21-13) will be matched up against the legendary Tom Izzo and his ninth-seeded Michigan State squad (19-14) in the West region of the NCAA Tournament. Second-year head coach Chris Jans and company will head to Charlotte, N.C. to face the Spartans on Thursday at 11:15 a.m. central. The game will be televised nationally on CBS.
SEE YOU IN CHARLOTTE!!!!#HailState🐶 pic.twitter.com/DuiO2RyJpG
— Mississippi State Men’s Basketball (@HailStateMBK) March 17, 2024
Mississippi State, despite lacking All-American center Tolu Smith for the majority of nonconference play, opened the year on a high note, carrying an 11-2 record before facing its first SEC opponent. The Bulldogs experienced their fair share of ebbs and flows in conference action, but managed to build a strong résumé with wins over Tennessee and Auburn, both top-10 teams when the games were played.
A four-game winning streak in February placed the team comfortably in NCAA Tournament talks and mock brackets, but things took a turn when Mississippi State lost all four of its final regular season contests.
The Bulldogs, in need of a strong showing in Nashville, found their way when it mattered most. Jans had his group equipped to amass wins over LSU and Tennessee to punch a second consecutive ticket to the field of 68 competing for a national title before falling to Auburn on Saturday.
Freshman sensation Josh Hubbard and Smith, the team’s anchors, will go to work alongside a cast of talented role players including Cam Matthews, Shakeel Moore, D.J. Jeffries, Dashawn Davis, and KeShawn Murphy to make a splash in the highly-anticipated postseason tournament.
The full list of teams in the NCAA Tournament can be found here.
