Bulldogs get No. 2 seed

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
March 15, 2004
STARKVILLE Mississippi State University didn't have a lot of disappoints on the basketball court this season, and that trend didn't change Sunday after the selection process for the NCAA tournament was completed.
The Bulldogs (25-3, 14-3 Southeastern Conference) received a No. 2 seed in the Atlanta Regional, marking the program's best seed in school history.
MSU will face No. 15-seed Monmouth (21-11, 12-5 Northeast Conference) at 6:10 p.m. Friday in the opening round of the tournament in Orlando, Fla.
The Bulldogs' seeding in the tournament is yet another addition to a long list of accomplishments for a team that was largely overlooked at the start of the year.
MSU, which began the season unranked and predicted to finish third in the SEC Western Division, won the school's first overall conference title since the 1962-63 season.
The Bulldogs were twice ranked fourth in the nation, a position they ended the season with, marking the program's first appearance in the top five since 1962.
MSU had a chance to claim one of four No. 1 seeds before losing to Vanderbilt in the opening round of the SEC tournament last Friday. Kentucky, which is seeded No. 1 overall, is the top seed in the St. Louis region; Duke is No. 1 in the Atlanta region; St. Joe in No. 1 in the East Rutherford, N.J. region; and Stanford is No. 1 in the Phoenix region
Just as the Bulldogs were unknown at the start of the college basketball season, they will face a team that many have little knowledge about in the Monmouth Hawks.
Monmouth, a 3,500-student university in New Jersey, received an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the NEC Tournament championship over Central Connecticut State.
The Hawks had lost three of their final six games to close the regular season, but they rattled off three straight wins to make the Dance.' Monmouth also went undefeated at home, posting a 13-0 record at Boylan Gym.
MSU will be making its third straight appearance in the tournament, a school record, and the Bulldogs will look for better results than last year.
MSU was upset by 14th seeded Butler in 2003, after the Bulldogs entered the tournament seeded third for the second straight year.
A better showing than last season may depend largely on the health of forward Lawrence Roberts, who transferred to MSU from Baylor before the start of the 2003-04 season.
The SEC Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year injured his ankle in the Bulldogs' loss to Vanderbilt last Friday in the SEC tournament.
Roberts, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds against the Commodores, said he is still feeling pain in his ankle when he tries to move from side to side.
Along with giving Roberts more time to heal, MSU will be helped by the extra time to prepare for its first-round game.
The tournament begins on Tuesday night with a play-in game between Lehigh and Florida A&M, the winner will advance to the field of 64 and play Kentucky on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.
The first round will start on Thursday, and the regionals will be played on March 25-28. The Final Four is in San Antonio on April 3, with the championship game on April 5.