Just A Bulldog Minute: What is the Ceiling for Mississippi State Men’s Basketball

With post-season play starting tomorrow for MSU, how deep into March can the Bulldogs go?

  STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State Bulldogs are preparing to face LSU in the second round of the SEC tournament in Nashville. After losing their last four games to end the regular season, the Bulldogs are now in a must-win situation, much like what they faced last year.

Despite the results being similar to a season ago, the ceiling of the team this year is much higher. Last year, the Bulldogs did a good job of handling their business in games they were expected to win but rarely had the juice to defeat top-ranked teams.

However, this year, MSU has shown they can compete with the top teams in the country as they hold a pair of impressive wins over Tennessee and Auburn. The reason for their higher ceiling is simple: experience.

Experience is invaluable in college basketball, and a season ago, the thrill of being in the NCAA tournament masked the tough one-point loss to Pitt. However, this year, the Bulldogs will not be surprised when they hear the name on Selection Sunday.

The Bulldogs are currently projected to be a ten-seed, which is a good spot for MSU to be in. Mississippi State would play a seven-seed in the first round and likely a two-seed in the second round. 

The ceiling for this team is the Sweet 16, and with a dynamic scorer like Josh Hubbard, do not count the Bulldogs out from going further. The unpredictability of the NCAA tournament makes it a lot tougher to figure out how far the Bulldogs could go. However, they still lack offensive firepower, so a Sweet 16 appearance is their ceiling.

Mississippi State will be back in action tomorrow at noon CT on SEC Network against LSU in Nashville. 

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