Chris Jans shares thoughts on Mississippi State making another late-season push

Mississippi State got off to a 2-7 start in SEC play in 2022-23, before rallying to sneak into the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs are hoping to take a similar path to the Big Dance this year.

In an ideal world, Chris Jans‘ team would already have an NCAA Tournament berth locked up. However, that’s not the case. Mississippi State got off to a 3-6 start in the SEC this year, before winning four straight games to move to 7-6.

The Bulldogs are currently No. 36 in the NET with five regular season games remaining.

“I like where they’re at,” Chris Jans said of his team. “It’s odd that it’s similar in terms of our records back-to-back years with where we’re at the first few games, and even at the turn I think they’re one game off. Didn’t want to be in that position, but we found ourselves in that position again.”

While Mississippi State went on to reach the NCAA Tournament last year, Jans is well aware that there’s no guarantee it will happen again this season.

On one hand, the Bulldogs know that they can battle back from a slow start to reach the Big Dance. However, Jans doesn’t want his team to think that just because it happened last year means it will for sure repeat.

“Like I’ve told you guys before, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen again,” Jans said. “That’s the goal, but it doesn’t mean that because we did it last year, it’s going to happen again. I sort of had to convince our guys that are here, like, don’t rely on that.”

So far that messaging has paid off. Mississippi State is 18-8 (7-6) and has won four straight games entering Saturday’s showdown at LSU.

The Bulldogs also have game coming up against Kentucky, Auburn, Texas A&M and South Carolina. How Mississippi State performs in those games could determine the Bulldogs’ postseason future.

“We’ve gotta do the things that got that done last year and we’re on our way,” Jans said. “We’ve still got a bunch of games left – some great teams and opportunities. But they’ve had that mindset that they needed to fight back.”

Chris Jans is in his second season at Mississippi State after being hired away from New Mexico State following the 2021-22 season.

The Aggies won 25-plus games in four of Jans’ five seasons there, before he left for Mississippi State. The Bulldogs lost in a first four game in last year’s NCAA Tournament.