Chris Jans updates Mississippi State's progress on putting together 2023-2024 schedule

Mississippi State head basketball coach Chris Jans is now entering his second season with the Bulldogs after leading the team to a 21-13 record in his first year at the helm. Jans improved the team’s win total by three wins in his first year with the team, but will he be able to build on that total even more in year two?

The Bulldogs’ success in the 2023-2024 season will start with their schedule, which is still in the process of being constructed according to Jans.

“It’s coming along,” Jans said during a media session Wednesday. “It’s just part of the deal, everybody’s funny about hooking up, we’re in the middle of a lot of discussions with a lot of different opportunities.”

Mississippi State took care of business handily in their non-conference schedule last season, starting the year 11-0 before suffering their one and only non-conference loss of the regular season to Drake. They even won their SEC/Big 12 Challenge matchup later in the season versus TCU in overtime, a Horned Frogs team that advanced all the way to the Elite 8 in last season’s NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs’ schedule may still be in it’s infant stages, but Jans did further confirm that the team will be participating in the 2023 Hall of Fame Tip-off tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

“We are playing in the Mohegan Sun exempt tournament in the fall, I think that’s public if I’m not mistaken. We’re playing Washington State, and then the other side is Rhode Island and Northwestern, so that’ll be a competitive four-team tournament, which we’ll get two games on,” Jans said. “We’re just right smack dab in the middle of trying to piece that thing together.”

An official date for this year’s Hall of Fame Tip-off tournament has not yet been announced, but did take place on November 19 and 20 last year and featured Maryland, Miami, Providence, and Saint Louis.

The tournament could be an opportunity for Jans and the Bulldogs to bolster their resume with potential quality wins over solid opponents. Mississippi State’s wins over Marquette and Utah last season in the Fort Myers Tip-Off surely helped their case for the NCAA Tournament, as they fell short in their First Four matchup with Pitt to miss out on the big dance.

The Bulldogs added various transfer portal additions to their squad already this offseason that Jans is optimistic about, and hopefully, an intriguing schedule can add to that excitement that’s starting to surround the program.