NCAA Tournament hopes in peril for defending champ Bulldogs
By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer
Defending national champion Mississippi State will be hard-pressed to make the NCAA baseball tournament this year after losing three straight at home to Florida over the weekend. The Bulldogs are last in the SEC West and 102nd in the RPI with conference series remaining against Texas A&M on the road and top-ranked Tennessee at home. MSU would be the fifth national champion since 2007 and first since Coastal Carolina in 2017 to not make the following NCAA Tournament. Injuries have hamstrung the pitching staff, and the Bulldogs have struggled to get timely hits.Â