Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland on MSU's NCAA Tournament bid. Tyler Horka, Clarion Ledger


STARKVILLE – When sports fans in the state of Mississippi think about Liberty University, they probably don't think of the basketball team. Who wouldn't think of the school's new head football coach: Hugh Freeze? 

For once, though, Ole Miss' former football skipper will be on the back burner. March is about the hardwood. That's where the No. 5 seed in the East Region, the Mississippi State Bulldogs (23-10), will meet 12th-seeded Liberty (28-6) in San Jose, California, on Friday at 6:27 p.m. CST. 

Who are the Liberty Flames, and why did CBS analysts Seth Davis and Clark Kellogg pick them to upset the Bulldogs this week? Here are five things you need to know. 

Record against common opponents

Liberty and Mississippi State played four common opponents: Austin Peay, Alcorn State, Alabama and Vanderbilt. Mississippi State beat all of them, including a split against Alabama. Liberty lost to all of them but one. Advantage: Bulldogs. 

Mississippi State went 4-1 against those foes with an average margin of victory of 16.4 points. Liberty went 1-3, and all three losses came by nine points. The one win was over Alcorn State by 22. State won that game by 23.

None of these teams made the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt was the worst team in the Southeastern Conference by a country mile. Austin Peay was a decent Ohio Valley Conference team, but the Governors finished the season with a NET ranking of 135. Alcorn State was one of the worst teams in the country with a NET ranking of 348. Alabama was one of the first four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament field. 

How Liberty made the tournament

Liberty would not be in the tournament field had it not beaten Lipscomb in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Game, but that doesn't mean the Flames are a pushover by any stretch. 

Liberty has a NET ranking of 58, which is higher than four teams that received at large bids. One of those four teams is Arizona State, a team that Mississippi State lost to in non-conference play., a popular advanced metrics website vastly cited by college basketball analysts, has Liberty as the 63rd best team in the country. What's holding the Flames back? They're largely untested. Also according to, Liberty had the 268th hardest strength of schedule in the country.

For reference, has Mississippi State as the 21st best team in the nation with the 30th toughest strength of schedule. The Bulldogs went 8-7 in Quadrant 1 games; Liberty went 2-0, with both wins coming against Lipscomb -- a team that had to settle for an NIT bid. 

Head coaches have familiarity 

The first thing Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland said about Liberty moments after the draw was announced Sunday evening is that he knows the Flames' head coach Ritchie McKay very well. 

Howland and McKay were competitors in the Big Sky Conference for two seasons in the late 1990s. Howland was the head coach of Northern Arizona, and McKay was the head coach of Portland State. 

The two went 2-2 against each other back then. The rubber match, if you will, is Friday with vastly-heightened stakes. The term Howland chose to describe McKay-coached teams was "fundamentally-sound." Per, Howland is right. 

Liberty is a balanced team that brings an offensive efficiency ranking of 36 and a defensive efficiency ranking of 32 into Friday's game. Mississippi State's respective rankings in those categories is 25 and 143.

Liberty is one of the slowest-paced teams in the country. The Flames rank 342nd in possessions per game with 66.5, but they also have five different players who have made 44 or more 3-pointers. Mississippi State averages exactly four more possessions per game, and they only have four such players. 

The balanced style of play is clearly working for McKay in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 31 seasons, the Flames have only reached 20 wins six times. McKay is in his fourth season with the program, and he has been responsible for half of those 20-win campaigns. 

Liberty's NCAA Tournament history

Liberty has made the big dance four times. The last was in 2013 when the Flames lost to North Carolina A&T in one of the First Four games in Dayton, Ohio. The two teams matched up as potential No. 16 seeds. 

The three previous times Liberty has made the NCAA Tournament, the Flames were a No. 16 seed. Liberty has never won an NCAA Tournament game, but this season could be different for many reasons. 

Obviously, the main reason is that the Flames don't have to go up against a No. 1 seed in the first round like it did against Saint John's in 2004 and North Carolina in 1993. Liberty earned its No. 12 seed; the Flames' 28 wins has blown away the program's previous record for most wins in a season. 

There has been at least one No. 12 over No. 5 upset in the NCAA Tournament in three of the last five seasons. In 2014 there were three, and in 2016 there were two. Many analysts are pegging this matchup as a possible upset, not for a lack of ability from Mississippi State; the pundits just really like Liberty. 

Liberty Flames players to watch 

The Flames' leading scorer, red-shirt junior Scottie James, averages 13.1 points per game. He shoots 67.7 percent from the field, and he grabs more rebounds per game (8.7) than he averages shots per game (7.5). 

James is a 6-foot-8, 235-pounder who is listed as a forward but technically plays center. Howland will likely stick sophomore center Abdul Ado on James. If he does and Ado handles his own, it will leave matchup problems for Liberty across the other positions on the court. 

In Liberty's most recent game against Lipscomb, sophomore Elijah Cuffee started in the front-court alongside James. Cuffee is only 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds. MSU 6-foot-10, 250-pound freshman forward Reggie Perry would surely love to match up with Cuffee. 

Liberty does have a 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard in Caleb Homesley who averages 12.0 points per game. MSU senior guard Quinndary Weatherspoon probably gets that assignment. Liberty's only other player who averages double-digits is senior guard Lovell Cabbil Jr., who scores 11.5 points per game. 

Contact Tyler Horka at Follow @tbhorka on Twitter.