NCAA Tournament picture dims for Mississippi State men, steadier for women

A weekly NET rankings update shows where Mississippi State’s men’s and women’s teams stand in the NCAA Tournament race.

Mississippi State junior Favour Nwaedozi celebrates during the Bulldogs' win against No. 7 Kentcuky. | Mississippi State Athletics

A fourth-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament for Mississippi State's men's basketball team is looking less and less likely each week. However, the women's team is still in line for a second-straight to the big dance.

Here's this week's updated look at the two Bulldogs' NET rankings as we start another week.

Mississippi State Men’s Team

The men's situation isn't pleasant, but it's easy to understand. The Bulldogs have lost five-straight SEC games, the last being losses of 20 and 22 points. They don't have a win against a top 25 team and have a loss to San Francisco dragging down their resume.

Luckily, the loss to San Francisco is no longer consider a Quad 4 loss after it moved up to No. 99 in the updated NET rankings. A Quad 3 isn't as bad, but the other points in the above paragraph are.

With 11 more SEC games, not all hope is lost for Mississippi State. But to keep the flame of hope alive, the Bulldogs will need to go on a win streak. Soon.

NET Ranking

• Rank: 106
• Overall: 10-10
• Road: 2-2
• Neutral: 1-4
• Home: 7-4
• Q1: 1-6
• Q2: 1-3
• Q3: 3-1
• Q4: 5-0

Mississippi State Women’s Team

The situation looks a lot better for the women's team and it got a lot better with the Bulldogs' upset of then-No. 7 Kentucky.

The win against the Wildcats' is a Quad 1 win and should remain so in the final month of the regular season. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 34 in the latest NET Rankings and were a No. 9 seed in ESPN's most recent bracket projections.

However, the Bulldogs aren't a slam dunk pick for a spot in the tournament. They'll need to keep playing well and winning games to maintain its position. That's hard to do in a conference that just set a record with 10 teams ranked in the top 25.

NET Ranking

• Rank: 34
• Overall: 15-6
• Road: 1-4
• Neutral: 2-0
• Home: 12-2
• Q1: 1-6
• Q2: 0-0
• Q3: 2-0
• Q4: 12-0

Next Up

The winter storm is still being cleaned up and certain parts of Mississippi were hit harder than others. That may impact both Mississippi State teams this week, but the games are currently scheduled to be played as originally set.

The men’s team will head south to LSU for a 6 p.m. tipoff Wednesday on SECN+. The women’s team is set to travel to No. 17 Tennessee on Thursday. That game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on SECN+.