From staff reports

All three of Mississippi’s potential NCAA Tournament teams had their bubbles burst this weekend. Luckily, the National Invitation Tournament was waiting with open arms.

Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Jackson State all received bids to the 32-team second-tier tournament after being slighted by the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

Mississippi State earned a No. 1 seed and will play Jackson State on Tuesday night in Starkville. Jackson State earned its NIT slot by winning the SWAC regular-season championship. It lost in the first round of the SWAC Tournament.

Mississippi State thought it had done enough after reaching the SEC Tournament championship game. A 75-74 loss to Kentucky on Sunday — MSU’s second overtime loss to the Wildcats this season — ended up proving costly.

“My opinion is like it always is. I have no opinion because my opinion doesn’t matter,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said after Sunday’s game, and before the NCAA Tournament selections were announced. “What should matter is anybody that witnesses what we’ve accomplished, what our team has done, witness that game right there. Anybody just witnessed that game. And, again, this wouldn’t even be a conversation if it wasn’t for the other overtime loss we had to them.”

Ole Miss earned a No. 2 seed and will host a first-round game against Troy on Wednesday night.

The Rebels are playing in their third NIT in four years. Their last berth in 2008 resulted in a trip to the semifinals in New York.

Southern Miss will play in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Golden Eagles travel to Ruston, La. to face Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. Thursday.

“I think it is a step in the right direction for the program,” said USM coach Larry Eustachy.