The statistic is somewhat misleading due to the way conferences have expanded recently, but it’s mind-boggling nonetheless — the Southeastern Conference is sending 14 teams to this year’s NCAA Tournament, shattering the previous record of 11 for any conference, set by the Big East in 2011.
That means from the start of January on, nearly every game Mississippi State played was against a March Madness-caliber team. For the third straight year, the Bulldogs (21-11) have made the tournament despite a sub-.500 record in SEC play, and they did so comfortably for the second year in a row as a No. 8 seed. MSU will face No. 9 seed Baylor in the first round Friday in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“From that way of trying to build your resume, it’s awesome. I wish it was that way every single year,” MSU head coach Chris Jans said. “I would love to have that type of quality of teams in your league because, at the end of the day, they’re opportunities, and they’re always going to be there.”
The SEC’s top four teams — Auburn, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee — all earned No. 1 or No. 2 seeds, with the Tigers receiving the top overall seed. Kentucky, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Missouri are all seeded No. 6 or better.
The impressive showing on Selection Sunday stems from an outstanding performance across the board in non-conference play. Florida, Tennessee and Oklahoma were all unbeaten against non-SEC opponents, and even the two teams not playing in the NCAA Tournament, LSU and South Carolina, lost no more than three non-conference games.
“It prepared us well for the NCAA Tournament,” said senior guard Claudell Harris Jr., who previously played at Charleston Southern and Boston College. “The SEC is the best league in the country, especially this year, and playing against that high level of competition and even with the guys next to me every day, it was always preparation for where we are now.”
Scouting Baylor
The Bears (19-14) have the most losses of any at-large team in the tournament field, but 12 of those defeats were Quadrant 1 games. Baylor played a difficult non-conference schedule, defeating Arkansas and St. John’s and losing to Gonzaga, Connecticut and Tennessee.
In Big 12 play, the Bears finished 10-10, with their best win coming against Kansas. Norchad Omier leads Baylor in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.9 points and 10.9 boards per game, but the engine that makes this Bears team go is freshman guard VJ Edgecombe, who is projected as high as the No. 3 overall pick in some NBA mock drafts. Edgecombe can shoot from outside but is most dangerous attacking the basket.
“They’re a great program, much-respected school. They’re in a tough league as well. They have a lot of great players, a lot of skilled players. They’re just a good team,” Bulldogs leading scorer Josh Hubbard said. “We just have to come out and do our job, get our game plan into the game, and just play some Bulldog basketball at the end of the day.”
Scott Drew has been Baylor’s head coach since 2003 and has taken the Bears to 13 NCAA Tournaments, including a national championship in 2021. This year’s team, even with its unspectacular record, is four spots ahead of MSU in the NET rankings due to its strength of schedule.
Robert O. Wright III and Jeremy Roach are also double-figure scorers, and Jayden Nunn and Jalen Celestine could pose problems for the Bulldogs with their outside shooting prowess. Baylor struggles to defend the 3-point line just as MSU does, though, so the Bulldogs will need to make sure to knock down open shots — especially coming off a poor outing in last week’s SEC Tournament loss to Missouri.
“They’ve just got a great lethal inside-out combination of strengths with Omier around the basket, being an inside-out undersized guy that’s a matchup nightmare,” Jans said. “Defensively they’re a multi-look team, so at this point in the year you have to prepare for different looks, different presses, different zones, which is a lot to contend with when you’re not familiar with a team like you are in league play.”
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