Mississippi State Bulldogs Release Non-Conference Basketball Schedule

Highlighted with a trip from visitors from Dunk City, the Mississippi State men's basketball team will play nine games at the Humphrey Coliseum, a neutral site game at the Bancopsouth Arena in Tupelo and travel west for a set of matchups in their 2013-2014 non-conference basketball schedule, a schedule that appears to be built to help the growth of the team in their second season of action under Rick Ray.

The action on the hardwood starts on November 8 when Prairie View A&M (15-19) make the trip to Starkville. After the Panthers come to Starkville, the Bulldogs will host the Kennesaw State (3-27) Owls out of the Atlantic Sun Conference on November 14. Mississippi State then hosts Mississippi Valley State (5-23) before traveling to Logan, Utah, to face one of the winningest programs of the last decade, the Utah State Aggies (21-10) on November 23.

After traveling out west, the Bulldogs return home for a November 27 matchup with Jackson State (11-18), a return game at home from last year's meeting with Loyola (15-16) on December 1, and a meeting with TCU (11-21) in the Big12/SEC challenge on December 5.

The Bulldogs will leave the confines of the Humphrey Coliseum and head up Highway 45 to the Bancorpsouth Arena in Tupelo to play the Southeastern Louisiana Lions (13-18) on December 13.

After the foray to the land of Elvis, the Bulldogs host two teams from the Sunshine State. The Rattlers of Florida A&M (8-23) pay a visit on December 17. On December 19, the darlings of the 2013 NCAA tournament, Florida Gulf Coast (26-11), will visit Starkville in the season following the Owls' run to the Sweet 16.

The Bulldogs will then play two games in the Las Vegas Classic at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Their first contest will be against South Florida (12-19) on December 22, and the Bulldogs will then face either UNLV (25-10) or Santa Clara (26-12), the champions of the CBI tournament.

After Christmas, Mississippi State will host the Hawks of Maryland-Eastern Shore (2-26) on January 2 to close out the non-conference schedule.

Game times and television schedules have not yet been determined.

• 2013-2014 Non-Conference Opponents by Conference
  • SWAC-3 Teams (Prairie View, Mississippi Valley State, Jackson State)
  • Atlantic Sun-2 Teams (Kennesaw State, Florida Gulf Coast)
  • Mid-Eastern Athletic-2 teams (Florida A&M, Maryland-Eastern Shore)
  • Mountain West-2 teams (Utah State, UNLV)
  • Missouri Valley-1 team (Loyola)
  • Big 12-1 team (TCU)
  • Southland Conference-1 team (Southeastern Louisiana)
  • American Athletic Conference (South Florida)
  • West Coast Conference (Santa Clara)
• Combined Opponent record if facing Santa Clara: 168-224, if facing UNLV: 167-222
• Should the Bulldogs face Santa Clara, the average RPI of their opponents will be 234. The average RPI will be 233 should the Bulldogs face UNLV.
• The Bulldogs face two teams from the 2013 NCAA tournament: Florida Gulf Coast, who lost to Florida in the Sweet 16, and UNLV, who lost to California in the second round (what was once the first round).