Joe Lunardi breaks down impact of Mississippi State win over Tennessee ahead of March Madness

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi took some time to break down the impact of Mississippi State’s win over Tennessee on Friday, and how it pertains to the NCAA Tournament.

Evidently, Lunardi believes the Bulldogs have solidified their spot in the bracket, and Mississippi State and coach Chris Jans will be very happy following their 73-56 win in the SEC Tournament.

“Mississippi State now out of the last four byes, solidly in the bracket,” Lunardi said. “I would say as a nine seed with a chance to move up further because at this point, they can only add good wins.

“They can’t add bad losses, that’s one of the great things about a conference tournament run that they’re on right now, and good for them.”

However, Lunardi did touch on the fact that South Florida is throwing a wrench into things with their performance, and how it could change the future for some SEC squads.

“In terms of the bigger picture,” Lunardi said, “the [more impactful] result was probably more South Florida in the American, because in staying alive, South Florida is occupying a spot and that’s more an issues for [bubble teams like] the Texas A&Ms and New Mexicos and whoever else you want to say is right on the cut line.”

Alas, Mississippi State won’t have to worry too much about that now, as the Bulldogs enjoy some breathing room ahead of Selection Sunday.

More on Mississippi State Bulldogs, NCAA Tournament

Earlier this week, Jans spoke about his team’s resumé in a media session on Tuesday, heading into the SEC Tournament. In his opinion, it’s of little value for him to make a case for his Bulldogs. I wasn’t worth it to him, since it’s not something that the selection committee would take into consideration

“You know I get asked that a lot – about what I think of where we’re at and what we need. I see other coaches get in these environments, have platforms, and vouch for their team. Go drill down on why they should be included in the NCAA Tournament,” said Jans. “I got to believe that the committee members don’t pay any mind to that. I don’t think they really care what an individual coach thinks about his team and why it should be included.

“If that was part of the process then I think we’d all have some sort of avenue to go through to preach our case, if you will.”

Evidently, Chris Jans let Mississippi State do their talking on the court, and it looks like the chips are going to fall in favor of the Bulldogs on Selection Sunday.