Bracketology 2023: 10 most complicated resumes to analyze this season

Mississippi State Bulldogs

The Bulldogs are another confusing resume in the SEC to look at in that they had the completely opposite pathway to this point from Texas A&M. At one time, this team was just 1-7 in SEC play. That included losses to all of the top teams in the conference, with Georgia, a Quad 2 defeat, being the exception.

But everything changed for Mississippi State in the Big 12/SEC Challenge against TCU. They took advantage of Mike Miles being injured to get its first quality win of the season, which sparked a five-game win streak to get them back on the bubble. They got wins over Missouri and Arkansas as well and recently beat rival Ole Miss in overtime to avoid that dreaded bad loss.

The metrics for the Bulldogs are solid, with just a loss to Drake in the non-conference, along with a massive win over Marquette that continues to look better each day. Despite having a 6-9 record in a somewhat down SEC, this team doesn’t have a Quad 3/4 loss to this point.

The question is whether or not they need a win over Texas A&M this weekend to feel good about an at-large bid. Mississippi State takes on South Carolina and Vanderbilt in the final week, neither of which will move the needle much. But what those wins will do is guarantee that they don’t have to play on the first day of the SEC Tournament and risk getting a killer loss to knock them to the NIT.