19. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Last Week: No. 24
Mississippi State rejoined my top-25 last week following a road win over Dayton. And thanks to a win over Clemson and other teams dropping games, the Bulldogs continued their rise this week. Head coach Ben Howland’s crew has now put together a few nice wins in a row following their lone loss on the season to Arizona State a couple of weeks ago. While many SEC teams have made seemingly endless headlines so far this year, Mississippi State has flown a bit under-the-radar as a consistent team so far this year.
With four games left in their non-conference schedule, the Bulldogs have a few more opportunities to bulk up their resume prior to SEC play. Cincinnati (H), Wofford (H), Wright State (N), and BYU (H) are the final games on the non-conference schedule and each could be underrated high-quality victories for the Bulldogs. Mississippi State has been impressive over the past couple of weeks and this momentum will hopefully carry them through the non-conference slate.
Mississippi State plays at a very deliberate pace and that has resulted in their defense allowing just 64.1 points per game (40th nationally). On the offense end, senior Quinndary Weatherspoon is leading the way for the team at 16.8 points per game. They are also one of the best free throw shooting teams in the country at 76.8% (21st nationally). As long as they continue to play high-level defense and knock down the freebies, Mississippi State will be a tough team to beat in a close game.