Mississippi State women's basketball fell just short of picking up the program's biggest win in several years on Thursday, falling to #1 Texas 68-64. A win over the Longhorns would have unquestionably propelled the Bulldogs off the NCAA Tournament bubble and safely into the field. Still, a close loss is a respectable result, so where does State find itself in the latest bracketology?
Mississippi State women's basketball remains among the "Last Four Byes" in ESPN's latest bracketology
Taking a close loss at home to the nation's top-ranked team and a projected 1-seed in the Texas Longhorns isn't going to to cause you to drop on it's own. But depending on other results around the country, the possibility of getting jumped, and thus falling down the seed list, would exist.
Fortunately for Mississippi State women's basketball, not only did they not drop any in Charlie Creme's bracket, they actually made a slight move upwards. Previous 9-seed Indiana's double-digit home Quad 2 loss to Maryland dropped the Hoosiers down into the "Last Four Byes", one spot below Mississippi State.
That, naturally, allowed the Bulldogs to move up a spot to the top of the "Last Four Byes". They're still on the bubble, but now they're right at the 9/10 cutline according to Creme. Just like in the last update, State checks in as a 10-seed in Region 4. This time though, State's projected matchup is with 7-seed Michigan.
Creme sends Mississippi State to a familiar opening weekend site. He's got the Bulldogs playing the first and, potentially, second rounds in South Bend, with 2-seed Notre Dame as the host. Two seasons ago in Sam Purcell's first year, Mississippi State played in South Bend for the NCAA Tournament. They advanced to the second round before losing a hard-fought defensive battle to the host Irish.
I'm sure Purcell and veterans Jerkaila Jordan and Debreasha Powe would relish the opportunity to get revenge on Notre Dame this time around. Of course they'd have to get through the Wolverines first in this scenario.
With State sitting atop the "Last Four Byes", I feel confident in saying that beating Auburn and winning one in the SEC Tournament should lock them into the NCAA Tournament. It's possible the Auburn win alone would do the trick, but seeing as how State's first round SEC Tournament opponent will likely be a bad team, they need to avoid a resume-hurting loss to close.
Essentially for State, it will be as simple as beating a pair of teams that they're better than the rest of the way to make sure they're dancing. Handle business, and they're set for March.