2009–10 Mississippi State Bulldogs basketball team
Introduction The '''2009–10 Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball team''' represented Mississippi State University in the 2009–10 college basketball season. This was head coach Rick Stansbury's twelfth season at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs competed in the Southeastern Conference and played their home games at Humphrey Coliseum, nicknamed ''The Hump''. They finished the season 24–12, 9–7 in SEC play. They advanced to the championship game where they were defeated by Kentucky in overtime. They were invited to the 2010 National Invitation Tournament where they advanced to the second round before being defeated by North Carolina.
Previous season The 2008–09 Bulldogs finished the season 23–13 (9–7 in SEC play). The Bulldogs won the 2009 SEC men's basketball tournament, allowing them to advance to the NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Washington in the Round of 64.
Before the season ===Departures===Four players from the 2008–09 team did not return for this season. Name  Number  Pos. Height  Weight  Year  Hometown  Notes   10  Guard    165  Senior  Hattiesburg, MS  Graduated (Walk-on)   1  Forward    205  Junior  College Park, GA  Transferred to West Texas A&M   44  Forward    245  Senior  Laurinburg, NC  Graduated   14  Guard    165  Sophomore  Birmingham, AL  Left team (Walk-on)===Recruits===
Roster Because the Bulldogs were one player above the scholarship limit, Jarvis Varnado gave his scholarship up so that no one on the team would have to leave, making him a walk-on. Renardo Sidney was suspended for the entire season over recruitment violations.
Rankings + Ranking Movement'''Legend:''' ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. Poll  Pre  Wk 1  Wk 2  Wk 3  Wk 4  Wk 5  Wk 6  Wk 7  Wk 8  Wk 9  Wk 10  Wk 11  Wk 12  Wk 13  Wk 14  Wk 15  Wk 16  WK 17  Wk 18  Final AP 18 RV RV -- -- RV RV RV RV RV 23 RV -- -- RV RV RV -- RV Coaches 19 RV -- -- -- RV RV -- RV RV RV RV	 -- --	 --	 -- -- -- --
Schedule and results Source*All times are Central Exhibition Regular Season 2010 SEC men's basketball tournament 2010 National Invitation Tournament
References