SEC Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2022-23 season
By Joey Loose
11. Mississippi State
Chris Jans, fresh off some great success at New Mexico State, slides over to the SEC and takes over this Mississippi State program. The Bulldogs have been solid in recent times, but they’ve yet to take that next step. While programs like Alabama, Auburn, and Tennessee have excelled at the national scale, Mississippi State has been in just one of the last twelve NCAA Tournaments, a trend Jans wants to buck.
Leading scorer Iverson Molinar is off to the NBA Draft, but there are three important pieces coming back from last year’s squad. Forward D. J. Jeffries will pick up the brunt of the scoring while big man Tolu Smith (14.2 ppg last year) will hope to stay on court all season and play a major role in the interior offense once again. The Bulldogs also landed a nice point guard in Dashawn Davis from Oregon State and might not be done adding to the roster.
The Bulldogs missed out on Isiaih Mosley, but there could still be a few pieces added to this roster. Mississippi State certainly has the pieces in place and might just be one more big-name away from shooting up these rankings, even in a tough league like the SEC. For now, it’ll be interesting to see how Jans runs his system and how a very successful WAC coach fares at the power conference level.