Mississippi State in solid position for tournament bid following win

Mississippi State might have punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

The Bulldogs defeated LSU (17-15, 9-9 in SEC) in the second round of the SEC Tournament, 70-60. According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, that should be enough for Mississippi State (20-12, 8-10 in SEC) to land one of the NCAA Tournament's last four byes.

Entering Thursday, the Bulldogs were 42nd in NET rankings with three wins in 11 Quad 1 games.

If Thursday's result leads to an NCAA Tournament berth, it would mark the first time since 2008 and 2009 that Mississippi State qualified for consecutive tournaments.

Last year, the Bulldogs were one of the last four teams in and lost to Pittsburgh, 60-59, in the Round of 68.

Freshman guard Josh Hubbard leads the team in scoring, and he scored a team-high 24 points against LSU. It was his sixth consecutive game above 20 points. Hubbard is averaging 27.5 points per game during that span. 

The Bulldogs have at least one more game prior to the NCAA Tournament and could have up to three more if it reaches the SEC Tournament championship game.

The lowest they should be seeded is as an 11, but they could move up a line with an impressive showing over the next three days.

On Friday, Mississippi State plays Associated Press No. 5 Tennessee (24-7, 14-4), which is in play for a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament.