State Now at #10

[ArcherSPS]

Mississippi State remains unranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll — but probably not for much longer. The Bulldogs should enter those rankings Monday considering they're now 8-0 with two wins over top-50 KenPom.com teams under first-year coach Chris Jans.

How high will MSU be?

Not sure.

But, if you're curious about what I think, let the record show that I have Mississippi State at No. 10 in Sunday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings — and, yes, I can justify the Bulldogs being that high. Before I do so, let me acknowledge that I have no idea — just like you have no idea — whether Mississippi State actually is or is not one of the 10 best teams in the country. Time will tell. But what I do know is that Mississippi State is A) one of only 14 still-undefeated teams in the sport, B) in possession of a win over the Marquette team that blasted the Baylor team that owns victories over Gonzaga and UCLA, and C) in possession of another win over the Utah team that blasted the Arizona team that owns victories over Creightonand San Diego State. Beyond that, Mississippi State has improved 44 spots at BartTorvik.com, and 28 spots at KenPom.com, since the beginning of the season, which highlights how the Bulldogs are not just winning but winning while also performing well thanks largely to a defense that currently ranks eighth nationally in adjusted defensive-efficiency, according to both KenPom and BartTorvik.

Will Mississippi State eventually show itself to be the bottom-half SEC team it was projected to be in the preseason? Perhaps -- though I doubt it. Again, time will tell. Either way, so far, the Bulldogs have impressively, and inarguably, out-performed expectations. And that's why right now, in this moment, putting a nice number beside Mississippi State's name is easily justifiable, if not entirely appropriate.

College basketball rankings: Undefeated Mississippi State cracks the top 10 of the updated Top 25 And 1

The Bulldogs are 8-0 and own some impressive victories this season

www.cbssports.com