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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

The Best in Sports for the Next 14 Days

Friday, Feb. 27
College baseball, Western Kentucky at Mississippi State, 3 p.m.: The Bulldogs become the last college team in Mississippi to open their season.

Saturday, Feb. 28
College basketball, Mississippi Valley State at Jackson State, 7:30 p.m., WOAD (1300): This is the big one, a meeting between the SWAC’s two best teams. This might be a SWAC Tournament final preview. Get there early. … High school basketball, MPSA Overall Tournament, Clinton: The girls championship is at 1 p.m. and the boys at 3 p.m.

Monday, March 1
High school basketball, MHSAA Boys and Girls State Basketball Tournament: Mississippi’s greatest sporting event begins its two-week run at the Mississippi Coliseum. You’ve got hoops virtually all day and night for a fortnight. Go check out the college and NBA (and WNBA) stars of tomorrow. … College basketball, Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Jackson State, 7:30 p.m., WOAD (1300): The Golden Lions are on the menu in the Tigers’ regular-season home finale.

Tuesday, March 2
College basketball, Auburn at Mississippi State, 8 p.m., ESPN and WJDX (620): Can the Bulldogs finally break their national TV jinx?

Thursday, March 4
College basketball, SEC Women’s Tournament: Ole Miss and Mississippi State start play at Nashville, Tenn.

Friday, March 5
Junior college baseball: Mississippi Delta at Hinds, 4 p.m.: Two of the state’s better juco programs get together at Raymond.

Saturday, March 6
College basketball: Arkansas at Ole Miss, 2 p.m., WFMN-97.3: The Rebels’ postseason hopes could be riding on this game. … College baseball, Mississippi Valley State at Jackson State (doubleheader), 1p.m.: The SWAC’s new baseball heavyweight visits University Park.

Monday, March 8
College baseball, Hinds CC at Belhaven junior varsity, 2 p.m.: The Blazers JV is going to play several juco squads this season.

Wednesday, March 10
College basketball: Southern Miss is in the CUSA Tournament at Cincinnati, while Jackson State, Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley are in the SWAC Tournament which opens in Birmingham.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.