Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State's NCAA Tournament hopes just got real

The Bulldogs' sweep of the Kentucky Wildcats opens up a clear path to the magical number of SEC wins to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
Taylor Hodges|
Mississippi State players stand along the third base line during the playing of the national anthem before a game against Kentucky.
Mississippi State players stand along the third base line during the playing of the national anthem before a game against Kentucky. | Mississippi State Athletics

This has been a difficult, emotional week for the entire Mississippi State baseball program and deserves some time to celebrate its series sweep of Kentucky.

After seeing their coach sent packing on Monday, the Bulldogs have gone 4-0 and won 14-4, 6-5 and 6-1 against Kentucky. It doesn’t give the Bulldogs a big jump in the SEC standings, but it does move them to 12th and there’s already plenty of talk of 12-13 SEC teams earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. At this point, that would include Mississippi State.

Let’s go ahead and say 13 SEC wins automatically gets you into the NCAA tournament. Ten of the SEC’s 16 teams have already reached that win total and two have too many losses to reach it (South Carolina and Missouri). Here are the 10 SEC teams that have at least 13 wins in conference play:

  • Texas
  • Arkansas
  • LSU
  • Georgia
  • Tennessee
  • Vanderbilt
  • Alabama
  • Auburn
  • Oklahoma
  • Ole Miss.

That leaves four teams who might or might not reach 13 SEC wins. Those teams are: Florida, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Kentucky.

Baseball America had Kentucky listed as a “lock” for the NCAA Tournament in its bubble watch last week, and others have included Kentucky in their projected brackets for the last couple weeks. But Mississippi State wasn’t. Baseball America had the Bulldogs in the “work to do” category and it was fully warranted at the time.

But now? After sweeping Kentucky and moving ahead in the SEC standings, are the Wildcats still a “lock” for invite? If so, would Mississippi State be a “lock” too?

For now, no, but don’t be surprised this week if Mississippi State makes some projected brackets because the Bulldogs are almost surely going to reach 13 SEC wins. That’s because they play Missouri (0-24 in SEC games) in the final series of the season.

In fact, the Tigers’ final two opponents should feel confident about reaching that magical number. Texas A&M (10-14) faces them next and joins Mississippi State as two teams most likely to reach 13 wins. Florida (11-13)and Kentucky (10-14) face much more difficult paths (i.e. they don’t play Missouri or South Carolina in the final two weeks).

Florida has No. 1 Texas and No. 18 Alabama (both of whom lost their series this weekend) and Kentucky has No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 15 Vanderbilt. Neither the Gators nor Wildcats have the easier schedule (Texas will lose that No. 1 ranking after being swept by No. 11 Arkansas).

So, Bulldog fans should be optimistic about their team’s chances to make the NCAA Tournament.

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Taylor Hodges
TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas, but he was taken to Razorback pep rallies at Billy Bob's Texas in Fort Worth before he could walk. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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