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Mississippi State basketball: Bulldogs fall a few spots in week 8 AP Poll

By Ethan Lee

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 19: De'Quon Lake #32 of the Arizona State Sun Devils looks to pass against Quinndary Weatherspoon #11 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first half of a semifinal game of the MGM Resorts Main Event basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on November 19, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 19: De'Quon Lake #32 of the Arizona State Sun Devils looks to pass against Quinndary Weatherspoon #11 of the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the first half of a semifinal game of the MGM Resorts Main Event basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on November 19, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /
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The Mississippi State basketball team has moved down a few spots in the latest AP poll rankings for the 2018-2019 men’s basketball season.

Ben Howland’s Bulldogs have moved down a bit in the latest AP poll. The 11-1 Mississippi State basketball team has fallen a couple of spots and is now the 19th ranked team in the 8th week of the 2018-2019 AP poll.

The Bulldogs didn’t really do much to warrant dropping down a few spots. Howland’s Mississippi State basketball team defeated a better than expected Wofford team at home in the Hump and then traveled over to Jackson and beat Wright State.

However, what hurts MSU with those wins is  that those games were closer than they should have been. The Bulldogs struggled with Wofford in the first half of last Wednesday, but ultimately came back and beat the Terriers by 11 points.

MSU’s game against Wright State was notably closer throughout the entire game. State only beat the Raiders by a total of four points.

As Mississippi State fell down a few places, a couple of other teams climbed up. MSU’s tumble in the rankings is almost certainly as much result of what Kentucky, Marquette, and Arizona State did as it is what the Bulldogs did in their games last week.

All three of those teams leapfrogged MSU.

Kentucky defeated then No. 9 North Carolina, Marquette took down then No. 14 Buffalo, and Arizona State (who defeated MSU earlier this season) bested then No. 1 Kansas. Given the circumstances, it’s understandable as to why the Bulldogs are no longer the 17th ranked team in the country.

Here’s what the entire poll looks like this week:

  1. Duke
  2. Michigan
  3. Tennessee
  4. Virginia
  5. Kansas
  6. Nevada
  7. Gonzaga
  8. Michigan State
  9. Florida State
  10. Virginia Tech
  11. Texas Tech
  12. Auburn
  13. Ohio State
  14. North Carolina
  15. Wisconsin
  16. Kentucky
  17. Arizona State
  18. Marquette
  19. Mississippi State
  20. North Carolina State
  21. Buffalo
  22. Houston
  23. Indiana
  24. Iowa
  25. Oklahoma

Next. MSU ready to battle Iowa in 2019 Outback Bowl. dark

The Bulldogs are doing pretty well this season and they’ve got plenty of big games ahead of them. If Ben Howland can keep his Mississippi State basketball team winning, then they’ll rise back in the rankings.

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