It’s been a rough ride for fans of MSU hoops over the course of the last week, but the Bulldog faithful shouldn’t pack it in just yet. 
Both teams are still in the tournament picture, just in different spots. 
When it comes to the women’s team, the loss to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament was one that certainly wasn’t expected, but it’s not the end of the world. 
In fact, both Mississippi State head coach Sam Purcell and Aggies head coach Joni Taylor said the Mississippi State women were an NCAA tournament team, and the coaches could very well be right. 
As of March 5 at 9:30 p.m. eastern time, the Bulldogs are still predicted to be one of the last four byes, according to ESPN’s NCAA Women’s Bracketology report. 
The MSU women are predicted to be one of seven SEC teams selected, and they are also predicted to match up with NC State in College Park, Maryland. There have been several games around the country that have played out to the betterment of the women’s squad, but to keep it simple, this group of Bulldogs should be sitting pretty come selection day. 
The men’s side is where things get tricky, now. After the men’s team lost to Vanderbilt on the road this past Saturday, they’re sitting at 20-11 (8-10). Before a full slate of Big 10 basketball on Sunday, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had MSU at the top spot of the last four in. Come Monday morning that may move, but as for now, this group of Bulldogs remain on the bubble. 
As of right now, they’d match up with Penn State in the play-in for an 11-seed. If MSU were to win, it’d match them up with San Diego State in the first round of the Big Dance. 
Before then, MSU has to match up with the University of Florida Gators in the SEC Tournament. Florida currently sits at 58th in the NET rankings — 12 spots behind MSU. The last time the two faced off was in the midst of Mississippi State’s mid-season losing skid, where the Gators won 61-59 in Humphrey Coliseum. 
Gators’ star forward Colin Castleton suffered a broken hand earlier this season, and there were murmurs that he might make it back for postseason play, but nothing concrete has been released at the time of this article. 
If the Gators are without Castleton for the tournament and MSU can take advantage, the Bulldogs should also be rather relaxed when selection Sunday rolls around. 
There’s a chance that both Mississippi State basketball teams will be tournament bound this year with two first-year head coaches at the helm. If that’s the case, I’d be willing to bet the days of begging people to pile in Humphrey Coliseum are over for the foreseeable future.