Why beating Ole Miss is critical for Mississippi State basketball, Chris Jans

The calendar turning to 2023 provides a harsh reminder for fans of Ole Miss and Mississippi State men’s basketball. It's another year further from the last time (2019) either program provided fans a chance to tune into March Madness and see their team take the court.

The Bulldogs and Rebels have deprived the Magnolia State of a chance to relish in the glory of perhaps the best tournament in college athletics. The baseball programs have delivered national championships. The football teams have combined 34 wins in the past two seasons.

Yet January and February have lacked excitement, though Saturday’s matchup can change the tide for the winning team – particularly Mississippi State (11-3, 0-2 SEC).

It’s a game at Humphrey Coliseum as renovations take place toward a nicer home arena next season. It’s a 1 p.m. game televised on CBS. It’s a chance for first-year coach Chris Jans to make a splash with his first SEC wins.

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After the current three-game losing streak that followed a season-opening 11-game winning streak, Jans needs a win to keep fans hooked. After drawing a sellout in the SEC opener against Alabama, Jans can’t deter fans with a home loss to rival Ole Miss (8-6, 0-2) – especially within a week of MSU women’s basketball doing just that.

Despite falling out of the national rankings, Mississippi State remains on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. The Bulldogs are projected as a 9-seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology for ESPN.

However, the fall from a top 15 ranking has been quick. It started with a tight loss against Drake before falling to Alabama. There are few moral victories in college basketball, but neither loss was a bad loss so MSU could move forward. On the resume, Tuesday’s loss at No. 9 Tennessee doesn’t look bad either.

It’ll take some convincing for fans who watched to agree, though. The Vols opened the game on a 16-0 run en route to a 34-point win. MSU's frequently poor offense was met by an off night from the defense.

The best way to wash away the taste of a blowout? Beat your rival. For Jans, that means beating the rival in his first try.

“We have no choice but to regroup,” Jans said. “We all know what’s looming on Saturday.”

Ole Miss will enter Starkville with a similar mindset. The Rebels have had a nearly identical start to SEC play as the Bulldogs. It started with a tight loss at home against Tennessee before an embarrassing loss at Alabama.

If Jans wants to change Mississippi State’s March Madness fortunes, coming out the victor on Saturday could prove crucial. To do so, he’ll have to change the program’s fortunes in the first matchup of the rivalry.

Mississippi State hasn’t won its opener against Ole Miss since the 2015-16 season. To keep the buzz that surrounded the program in November and December, Jans needs to break that skid.

“Come (Wednesday) and the rest of the week, we’re going to have to get our minds around where we’re at,” Jans said after the loss at Tennessee. “We’ve got to get prepared for another basketball game.”

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball, Chris Jans on critical game vs. Ole Miss