Jackson Free Press

Only one men’s basketball team from Mississippi reached the postseason between the NCAA Tournament and the National Invitation Tournament: the University of Mississippi with its bid to the NIT.

Three women’s basketball teams from Mississippi are heading to the postseason. http://hailstate.com/news/2017/3/13/womens-basketball-bulldogs-earn-record-no-2-seed-hosting-first-and-second-rounds.aspx">Mississippi State University, which earned a No. 2 seed in the Oklahoma City Region in the Women’s NCAA Tournament, leads them.

The team is in the midst of the best record in school history at 29-4 and broke the school record for most wins for the third straight year. The Bulldogs matched the school record for best finish in the SEC, second place, as they won a school-record 13 conference games.

The best season in school history gives MSU the right to host the first- and second-round games. If the Bulldogs advance to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, teams will play those games in Oklahoma City, and the Final Four will be in Dallas.

http://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/tournament/bracket">In the first round, MSU faces No. 15 seed, 22-10-record Troy University, which won the Sun Belt Tournament to get in the field of 64. If the Bulldogs win, they will face the winner of the game between No. 7 seed DePaul University (26-7), the regular season champion out of the Big East, and No. 10 seed University of Northern Iowa (24-11).

DePaul faces Northern Iowa at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 17, with MSU battling Troy at 1:30 p.m. Both first-round games will be on ESPN2. The winners of round one will play on Sunday, March 19, with the time and viewing platform to be announced.

Both the http://www.southernmiss.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/031317aaa.html">University of Southern Mississippi and the http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/031317aac.html">University of Mississippi accepted at-large bids to the 64-team Women’s NIT. Both the Golden Eagles and the Rebels will host their first-round games.

http://www.womensnit.com/bracket.html">USM hosts the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on http://www.womensnit.com/schedule.html">Wednesday, March 15, with tipoff at 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles will face the winner of the University of Alabama versus Mercer University game in the second round.

This is the Golden Eagles’ seventh trip to the WNIT in program history. The last appearance for USM happened after the 2014-2015 season.

The http://www.womensnit.com/bracket.html">Rebels will host Grambling State University on http://www.womensnit.com/schedule.html">Thursday, March 16, with a scheduled start of 6 p.m. UM will face the winner of the Tulane University versus the University of Texas at Arlington game.

This will be the eighth time UM earned a bid to the WNIT. The last time the Rebels were in this tournament was after the 2014-2015 season.

Second-round games of the WNIT are March 18 to March 21. Third-round games are from March 22 to March 24.