It’s March so we have daylight savings time, a full moon, a Friday the 13th and of course my favorite — March Madness.
The NCAA basketball tournament selections have already started as several of the smaller conference champs — Winthrop, Bradley, Liberty, Utah State and Belmont — are already in the dance. Those schools have automatic bids by having won their conference tournaments this past weekend.
The rest of the field will unfold this week, and the final selections will be chosen on Sunday night after all the conference tournaments have been completed.
Mississippi State (20-11, 11-7) gained the fourth seed in the upcoming Southeastern Conference Basketball Tournament that will be played in Nashville this week at Bridgestone Arena.
MSU whipped Ole Miss (15-16, 6-12), 69-44, on Senior Night in Starkville to gain a double bye in the conference tournament. It was also the Bulldogs' third straight 20-win season.
Ole Miss will tangle with Georgia on Wednesday while State will play Florida, Ole Miss or Georgia on Friday afternoon in their first tournament game. Kentucky, LSU and Auburn also have double byes.
THIS & THAT
— The Southern Mississippi Lady Golden Eagles will play Marshall in the Conference USA basketball tournament on Wednesday morning at the Star in Frisco, Texas. The Lady Eagles (15-15, 7-11) are the ninth seed.
— The Golden Eagles (9-22, 5-13) did not qualify for the conference tournament as the men finished 13th and only the top 12 teams make the conference tournament.
— Southern Mississippi (11-4) will open conference baseball play this week at home as the Golden Eagles host Florida International. USM took two of three from Little Rock this past weekend.
— As usual, Mississippi has some quality junior college baseball teams as Pearl River, Hinds, Northwest, Itawamba and Northeast are ranked in the top 12 in the country.
Dale McKee is a native of Waynesboro and has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973. His column appears in several weekly papers throughout the state. You may contact him at ddmckee18@yahoo.com
