Five Potential Bid-Stealers for Mississippi State Basketball Fans to Know

With Mississippi State basketball on the NCAA Tournament bubble entering Champ Week, here are five potential bid-stealers Bulldog fans should be weary of.

Mar 5, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; UNLV Rebels forward Karl Jones (22) celebrates the win over San / Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports

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Drake Bulldogs basketball

Though most conference tournaments start this week, a few have already crowned a champion. One of those was the Missouri Valley Conference. On Sunday, the Drake Bulldogs defeated the Indiana State Sycamores in the "Arch Madness" finals, 84-80.

The MVC is a fairly strong mid-major league, and over the years they've produced several teams good enough to earn at-large bids. Just back in 2021 they had multiple teams in the tournament. And there's a very good chance that happens again this season.

Regular season champ Indiana State put together an impressive resume. The Sycamores are 26th in the NET, 34th in Strength of Record, and have a 5-5 Quad 1/2 record. They won't take a major ding by losing a close battle to a Drake team that was respected by the metrics.

Indiana State isn't a NCAA Tournament lock. There are some real flaw in their resume, most notably the lack of high-level wins. But if they remain a top-30 NET over the next week, the Selection Committee is going to have a hard time keeping them out.

If the Sycamores do indeed earn an at-large bid selection, that would make Drake the first bid-stealer of the tournament.

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