NIT North Region Finals Breakdown

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#1 Mississippi State vs #2 Florida State

Both teams are playing extremely well coming into this game as Florida State obliterated Michigan 87-66 and MSU destroyed Bradley 101-72 in the previous round. Florida State has a huge matchup problem for Mississippi State in Al Thornton. One would think MSU's huge guard Jamont Gordon would play Al Thornton, but he may not be quick enough to stay with Thornton or tall enough to effectively guard him along the perimeter. It's not likely the Bulldogs would put foul prone forward Charles Rhodes on Thornton because he'd likely foul out in the first half. However, on the other side of things, how will Florida State guard Jamont Gordon? Though Gordon is a fantastic player for MSU, he's still inconsistent and could possibly be taken out of this game somewhat by Florida State's large backcourt. Can they contend with Gordon's brute strength though? Probably not. Both of those guys are probably going to get their points so what this game could come down to is the paint. Mississippi State has the clear edge in rebounding and considering Florida State lacks a true back to the basket post player, Charles Rhodes and offensively challenged Jarvis Varnado could have very good games inside for MSU. Both of these teams can light it up from the perimeter and in what should be a high scoring affair, I must take the more complete team. It also doesn't hurt that this game is being played in Starkvegas. I'm a bit hamstrung by picking Florida State to go to New York in my bracket projections because the more I think about it, the more I think Mississippi State will win. I'm not sure Florida State has anybody to stop Charles Rhodes down low.

Mississippi State 83 Florida State 80