Mississippi men’s basketball booked its tickets to paradise on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs announced they will head to Paradise Island in the Bahamas as part of the Battle 4 Atlantis as part of their non-conference schedule. State will join Memphis, Penn State and Wake Forest, playing at least two of these opponents.
State will play on Nov. 25 and 27. Times and matchups are yet to be announced. The tournament announced that Marquette, Texas A&M, Virginia and Xavier will also be a part of the field.
MSU has five other non-conference games on the book for 2026-27. MSU will host Tennessee Tech on Nov. 2, Northwestern State on Nov. 5 and Alabama A&M on Dec. 7. The Bulldogs will travel to Georgia Tech on Dec. 2 and Marquette on Dec. 12.
Chris Jans and company are looking to bounce back from a poor 2025-26 season. MSU went 13-19, failing to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Jans’ four-year tenure. Last season also marked the first season the Bulldogs failed to win 21 games under Jans.
Battle 4 Atlantis began in 2011 and pays approximately $2 million per participating school. Past winners Villanova (2017) and Virginia (2018) parlayed success in Atlantis into national championship runs later that season. All previous champions except Villanova (2023) earned bids to the NCAA Tournament.
Jake is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for The Dispatch.
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