NCAA Tournament: Mississippi State's Best Case Scenario

Mississippi State NCAA Tournament: How Far Can the Bulldogs Go?

Mississippi State might have liked a slightly better seed, but the 8 isn’t bad considering all the problems late in the season. But if Ole Miss is a 6 …

What’s done is done, the Bulldogs are in the NCAA Tournament, and even as an 8 it has a chance to go on a nice, deep run - but it’ll take a few massive breaks. Here’s the best case scenario for the Bulldogs, starting with, obviously …

Beat Baylor

You have to beat the team in front of you no matter what, and Mississippi State caught a wee bit of a break getting Baylor. It wouldn’t have been a shock if the Bears were an 11 seed instead of a 9 after dropping six of their last nine games. Best of all …

This isn’t a high-powered offensive team.

Mississippi State has yet to win this season when allowing more than 84 points. Baylor hasn’t scored more than 76 in any of its last ten games, and only scored more than 84 twice in Big 12 play.

So Step One is done - get a team in the first round that doesn’t throw a gajillion points on the board. Step Two …

Cooper Flagg

We do not - DO NOT - put out bad vibes, karma, juju, whatever you want to call it when it comes to injuries - triple that when it comes to college kids.  In a perfect world, a fully functional Duke has a totally healthy Cooper Flagg, and Mississippi State wins in a tough, spirited game.

Again, no ... negativity ... whatsoever. But if Flagg’s injured ankle wasn’t quite 100% by next Saturday …

Brutally harsh reality, Duke without Flagg is by far the most vulnerable 1 seed. So let’s put it this way. Somehow, Mississippi State gets by a Blue Devil team that doesn’t have its best day of offensive firepower. Then …

The East draw is absolutely doable after Duke

Mississippi State escapes the first weekend alive, it’s a big story after taking down the Blue Devils, and then it gets either 4-seed Arizona or 5-seed Oregon.

It might sound strange, but the Bulldogs would much rather have a flaky Wildcat team that has the ability go ice cold for stretches.

Oregon is better than Arizona, and 12-seed Liberty and 13-Akron - if one got through - would be a huge problem with their respective offenses.

Caleb Love has a bad day, Mississippi State controls the tempo, and then it’s on the Elite Eight

Alabama as a 2 and Wisconsin a 3 would be ten-ton problems for the Bulldogs. I’ll pick this up after the first weekend …

After Mississippi State takes out Baylor and Duke.