How to Watch Mississippi State Basketball vs Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament

The First Round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament begins Thursday, and the day's action gets underway with a "Battle of MSUs". 8-seed Mississippi State takes on 9-seed Michigan State in Charlotte, North Carolina in the West Regional bracket.

Mississippi State enters the NCAA Tournament at 21-13. The Bulldogs, led by second-year HC Chris Jans, combine a strong defense with the potent 1-2 punch on offense of freshman guard Josh Hubbard (17 PPG) and senior center Tolu Smith (15 PPG, 8 REBs). State is in the tournament for the second-straight year after a good showing in the SEC Tournament, in which they knocked off SEC champion Tennessee.

Michigan State sits at 19-14. Tom Izzo's Spartans are in the Big Dance for the 27th-straight season. They also boast a great defense, rated 9th by KenPom, and have a good collection of shooters, lead by guard Tyson Walker with 18 PPG. And though they've yet to live up to preseason expectations, Izzo is one of the best at leading his teams to surprising runs in the tournament.

Mississippi State and Michigan State play in the first game of the First Round on Thursday. The national spotlight will be on this matchup. Here's how you can watch...

Mississippi State basketball vs Michigan State: game time and TV broadcast

First round action of the 2024 NCAA Tournament begins with 8-seed Mississippi State facing 9-seed Michigan State in Charlotte. The game is set to tip-off at 12:15 pm ET (11:15 am CT) and will be broadcast on CBS.

Brian Anderson and Jim Jackson will be on the call with Allie LaForce reporting live.

Mississippi State vs Michigan State will also be available for streaming through the NCAA March Madness Live app and Paramount+.

Mississippi State basketball vs Michigan State should be a great battle

As is typically the case for 8/9 games, Mississippi State and Michigan State should be tightly-contested. Both teams play strong defense and have enough scoring threats to trade blows. And each has the potential of making a run in the tournament. This will be a fun matchup.

You can get the entire First Round schedule for the 2024 NCAA Tournament here...