After four and a half months of action, it's time for Madness. Selection Sunday has arrived. This evening, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Committee will unveil the bracket for the 2025 tournament.
Mississippi State basketball will be one of the 68 teams announced in the field. The Bulldogs, in their third season under head coach Chris Jans, did more than enough during their regular season slate to ensure that they would be in the NCAA Tournament for a third-straight season.
The only questions that are left are what seed will the Bulldogs earn, where are they headed for the first weekend of the tournament, and who their first round opponent will be. We've got a pretty good idea of where State will be seeded based on their resume. And with that, we've also got a good idea of who their possible first round opponent could be.
But where does ESPN's Joe Lunardi, the Godfather of Bracketology, have Mississippi State in his final projections?
Mississippi State Bulldogs land as a 9-seed in Joe Lunardi's final bracketology
Joe Lunardi has made some regular tweaks to his bracket throughout Champ Week, but with just a few games remaining, the majority of the bracket is set. And none of those final games should have a baring on Mississippi State's positioning.
So with that in mind, as of 1:00 AM CT Sunday, Joey Brackets has Mississippi State projected as a 9-seed in the East Region. He sends the Bulldogs to Raleigh for a first round matchup with the 8-seed UConn Huskies.
That'd be about as tough a first round draw as State could possibly land. The Huskies are the two-time defending national champions, and while they've not played to that standard this season, they're still loaded with talent and know better than anyone how to win in March.
Of course as a 9-seed, if State were to advance to the second round, there's about a 99% chance (literally) that their next opponent would be a 1-seed. And in this case, Lunardi has the Duke Blue Devils. Getting a powerhouse, one of the clear favorites to win the national title, in their home state is not ideal.
But the reality is unless you're a top seed, chances are your path towards making a run in the tournament isn't going to be easy. As long as you're in the field, you've got a chance. Crazy things happen in March, and 1-seeds falling in the second round happens quite frequently. Whether Mississippi State plays UConn or not in the first round, and whether or not Duke would be the 1-seed they face, they could make some noise.