Mississippi State is coming into this game with a 20-12 record this season but they have not been as good in the SEC at 8-10 in the conference this season. They are coming off of a win in the last round as they beat LSU by 10 points, but they were also playing very poorly coming into this tournament as they ended the season with 4 straight losses, 3 of them coming against ranked teams as well. They are going up against a Tennessee team that is 24-7 this season and also had the best record in the conference at 14-4. They have been playing very well in their recent games as they have won 7 of their last 8 games to end the regular season, but they are also coming off of their only loss in that span in their last game as they lost their very last game of the regular season to Kentucky. They only lost that game by 4 points though and they are going to be hungry to bounce back here as they have been the best team in this conference all season. They are also playing this game with rest since it is their 1st game of the tournament while Mississippi State is on a B2B having played yesterday. Tennessee is also going to have some extra incentive here since they only played Mississippi State once this season back in January and it was a game they lost on the road by 5 points so they are going to be hungry for some revenge in this game while also looking to bounce back from their last loss. Tennessee is also playing this tournament with a possible number 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament still on the line. Tennessee will cover the spread in this game.