Both the Mississippi State men and women are currently projected to make their respective NCAA tournament fields.
Mar 5, 2025
Heading into an important week of basketball, both the Mississippi State men’s and women’s teams are expected to make the NCAA tournament field. The Bulldog men (20-9, 8-8 SEC) will play their final home game of the regular season tonight against Texas (16-13, 5-11 SEC). The weekend takes State to Arkansas (17-12, 6-10 SEC) for the regular season finale. The seedings for next week’s Southeastern Conference men’s tourney will be known by close of business Saturday once Texas and Oklahoma play the nightcap. Of course, most of the field will be known before that game goes final.
CBSSports men’s basketball expert Jerry Palm currently has State listed as #5 seed. According to Palm’s bracket, State would face off against #12 seed Drake in Denver. Tuesday’s update from ESPN lists State as a #7 seed in Cleveland against #10 seed West Virginia. Things can and will change following tonight’s games and on into the conference tournaments.
On the women’s side of things, the Mississippi State Lady Bulldogs are preparing for the SEC tournament this week. State enters the week as the league’s #10 seed. The Bulldogs will take on Missouri this Wednesday at 5 PM CT. The Tigers upset State earlier this year when the Bulldogs visited Columbia. Destiny McPhaul was unavailable for that game. She is expected to be full go come Wednesday.
State could certainly benefit from a win on Wednesday. While the current projections have the Bulldogs in the field, another loss to Missouri could certainly have a negative impact on State’s post season positioning. A win on Wednesday likely gives State the final win it needs to have a little breathing room. Should the Bulldogs advance, a rivalry rematch with Ole Miss awaits. A win there would mean a lot on multiple levels.
Should the chalk hold and both the State men’s and women’s teams play on into the Big Dance, it will come as a rarity in Starkville. There have only been five seasons where Bulldog fans have had a rooting interest in both tournaments (2002, 2003, 2009, 2019, 2023). To be fair, it is important to note that the NCAA women’s tournament did not begin until 1982.
The Bulldog ladies have reached the tourney field a dozen times. The State men have been thirteen times, but qualified for participation multiple times prior to 1963 when the school defied state lawmakers to play the first tournament game in school history.
In those dozen possibilities of both teams participating in March Madness, State has done so less than half the time. The last time it happened back in 2023, both Chris Jans and Sam Purcell were the coaches leading the charge. In that respect, recent history may repeat.
One final note of interest, in those five double dip trips, both teams have only won a game in the same tournament once, 2002. Neither team advanced to the Sweet Sixteen that year, so there is another milestone to shoot for.
