(This story was updated to add new information.)

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State baseball ended the regular season projected to host an NCAA Tournament regional.

The Bulldogs (39-16) lost three straight series to close the regular season — all against teams also projected to host regionals — but did not get swept in any of them. They finished eighth in the SEC and will play the winner between No. 9 seed Ole Miss and No. 16 Missouri in the second round of the SEC Tournament in Hoover, Alabama, on May 20 (9:30 a.m., SEC Network).

MSU hasn’t hosted a regional at Dudy Noble Field since 2021.

Here are the latest NCAA Tournament bracket projections for Mississippi State.

Mississippi State baseball NCAA Tournament projections

Aria Gerson of The Tennessean has Mississippi State projected to host as the No. 13 national seed. That regional would include No. 2 seed Southern Cal, No. 3 Louisiana and No. 4 Bucknell.

Baseball America also projects MSU to host a regional as the No. 13 national seed. The makeup of that regional is different though with Wake Forest as the No. 2 seed, Southeast Missouri State as the No. 3 seed and Lamar as the No. 4 seed.

Mississippi State falls in college baseball polls

After losing two of three games at Texas A&M to end the regular season, the Bulldogs fell two spots to No. 14 in the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

They also dropped to No. 16 in the D1Baseball Poll.

Mississippi State NCAA Tournament resume

MSU’s RPI is No. 12 as of May 18, the same as the previous week.

The Bulldogs are 9-13 in Quad 1 games, 4-3 in Quad 2 games and 26-0 in Quads 3 and 4. Four of the nine Quad 1 wins are against Ole Miss. Their strength of schedule is ranked seventh nationally.

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Mississippi State’s SEC series wins against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, LSU and South Carolina were all against teams in the bottom half of the conference standings.

Mississippi State baseball NCAA Tournament history under Brian O’Connor

Brian O’Connor is a first-year coach at Mississippi State, so it hasn’t played in the NCAA Tournament with him. MSU won the 2021 national championship under coach Chris Lemonis, but he was fired during the 2025 season.

Mississippi State has made the NCAA Tournament in the last two seasons as No. 2 seeds, losing in the Charlottesville Regional final and the Tallahassee Regional final.

O’Connor was the Virginia coach for 22 seasons, reaching 18 NCAA Tournaments, nine super regionals, seven College World Series and winning the 2015 national championship.

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State baseball NCAA Tournament projections in 2026 bracket