Tigers, Bulldogs Meet For Third Time This Season
TAMPA, Fla. - The last time Mississippi State and LSU met, first place in the overall SEC standings was on the line.
When the two battle it out at noon today at the St. Pete Times Forum, even more is at stake - a trip to the SEC Tournament finals.
The game will be televised by Raycom, with Tim Brando handling the play-by-play duties and Joe Dean serving as the analyst.
The Tigers earned the season sweep against the Bulldogs, including the thrilling 97-94 double-overtime victory at Humphrey Coliseum back in February. But a rejuvenated MSU squad, one that's won four in a row, knows that a win today against the overall league champs puts it back into the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth.
The long-time rivals have only met four times in this annual event, with each squad winning twice. LSU won the first two in 1957 and 1987, but State has won the last two ? in 2002 and 2003, both in the semifinals.
Today also marks the first time all year the Bulldogs have played a ranked team, as the Tigers enter the contest No. 20 in the Associated Press poll. The last time MSU faced a ranked foe was in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament, when it dropped a hard-fought 77-74 decision to No. 2 Memphis.
MSU has advanced by beating Georgia and South Carolina to improve to 7-1 against the Eastern Division, while LSU moved on thanks to its win against Kentucky.
In today's other semi-final bracket, Auburn and Tennessee meet at 2:15 p.m. Sunday's final is set for noon and will be televised by CBS. The last the Bulldogs were in the finals was 2003, when it lost to Kentucky, 64-57. But in 2002, Mississippi State won the title with a 61-58 victory against Alabama.