While Mississippi State picked up thrilling news that the program came in at No. 23 in USA Today's way to early preseason poll, things do not look quite so rosy based on ESPN's first Bracketology report for the 2017 tournament.
Joe Lunardi is predicting four SEC teams to make the tournament: Kentucky (One Seed-South), Texas A&M (Five Seed-East), Vanderbilt (Nine Seed-West), and Florida (Ten Seed-East).
That leaves the Bulldogs outside of the tournament, even if just barely, as the Maroon and White are included in the First Four Out category.
Time will tell how the season will play out, but given the struggles of a few years ago, it is exciting to see that others believe the growth and progress of last season will continue for Mississippi State basketball next year.