Vic Schaefer was on a plane back to Starkville from Lubbock, Texas, watching the Junior College national basketball tournament when his phone began to light up.
Hours away from when his team was supposed to be selected for the NCAA Tournament, a gaffe by ESPN had dropped the bracket on the side of the screen of a men’s basketball “Bracketology” show on ESPNU. Shortly after the brackets skimmed across the screen, pictures began to surface on social media revealing the destinations for each of the teams.
It didn’t take long for Mississippi State’s name to pop up as one of the four No. 1 seeds in the Portland Regional. Schaefer was expecting to learn the destination with his team and a bevy of Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum, but it happened much sooner than that around 2:15.
“Let’s just say, I got it early,” Schaefer quipped. “There was a little bit of disappointment because of the excitement for these kids, for our players and our fans is what makes this day so special. A little bit of me was disappointed for those folks. When I found out, I was excited. Wouldn’t have mattered what time of day it was.”
When the pieces were put together, the Bulldogs had earned a second-straight No. 1 seed in the tournament and its fifth-straight berth in the “Big Dance” overall. Prior to Schaefer’s arrival, State had never been a one seed and had been to six tournament appearances total in 37 years.
State welcomes in 16-seeded Southern (21-11) who recently won the SWAC championships from Jackson State on Saturday. They also will have the No. 8 seed South Dakota (28-5) and No. 9 Clemson (19-12) in the bracket with them.
That 8/9 game will take place on Friday at Humphrey Coliseum at 6 p.m. with MSU and Southern following that game at approximately 8:30 p.m. The winner of those games will play a Sunday night ball game to determine a trip to Portland, Ore., and the Sweet 16.
“We’ll have to be ready to go on Friday against that group. Guards against guards, I think that’s going to be a great matchup for us,” Schaefer said. “With Clemson, I’m very familiar with (coach) Amanda Butler. In one season she’s changed the culture and gone from one (conference) win to where they are now at 19-12. So much respect for her and her staff and the job they’ve done.
“South Dakota is so disciplined in what they do offensively. They’re going to outexecute you if you let them. We’ve got a heck of a Regional here. I think our fans are going to see some great basketball, some great players and some well-coached teams. I’m excited for our fans.”
The Bulldogs (30-2) have been considered by experts to be a No. 2 seed up until last week. State was listed as one of the top four seeds when the NCAA committee revealed their top 16 back on February 11, but they promptly lost to Missouri bumping them down to a No. 2 seed in the committee’s eyes.
Then State rattled off their final five regular season games and won the SEC championship for a second-consecutive year and won three games in the SEC Tournament to capture its first SEC Tournament title. They would leapfrog Oregon as the No. 1 seed but are still paired with the Ducks if both can make it to the Elite 8.
The entire bracket looks to be as wide open as it has been in recent years with Connecticut’s long reign as a one seed coming to an end and almost every team nationally with at least two losses.
“This is probably a year that you could have six number ones and I think that speaks to the parity of our game. It speaks also to the commitment to women’s basketball that universities are making now. Here at Mississippi State, women’s basketball is really important,” Schaefer said. “I think the tournament has some tremendous balance to it and I appreciate the committee and their consideration of these kids.”
As Schaefer said, it’s now up to the Bulldogs to show that his team can live up to that No. 1 billing. They host for the fourth-straight season and they’re again pegged as one of the favorites to make a Final Four run for a third-straight year.
Jazzmun Holmes has been on each of the last two teams that made it to the national championship game but this year she gets to lead the team as the point guard. She’s ready for the moment.
“It’s exciting. I know that my teammates look up to me and whenever I’m going, their going,” Holmes said. “I just have to keep a level head going into the tournament and doing things that have worked for us the entire year.”
