STARKVILLE — The college basketball world will gather in Arizona this weekend for the Final Four and national championship game. While Mississippi State won’t partake in the action after its first-round exit against Michigan State, the Bulldogs will be represented.

Phoenix will be the site of the Manager Games – a tournament of eight teams’ student managers.

The field of eight was selected through polls posted on X (formerly Twitter). Using a system generated from matchups of managers in the regular season, teams were ranked and voting was weighted to reflect it.

No. 11 seed Mississippi State needed to beat No. 6 seed IUPUI in the first round. MSU won with 67% of the votes. In the second round against No. 3 seed Purdue, Mississippi State needed 55% of the votes to win. It got exactly that.

MSU needed 55% again to defeat No. 2 seed Michigan in the third round. They believed they could do it after defeating Purdue, so the managers implemented an intriguing do-it-yourself marketing campaign.

“The first thing we did was get a bunch of fliers with a QR code on them, and we hung them around all over campus,” graduate MSU manager Reagan Jordan told the Clarion Ledger. “Then, Henry (Zimmerman) and Griffin (Cherry) were tracking people down on campus getting them to vote.”

“We had to go to, like, Walmart and Kroger and stand outside grocery stores to flag people down,” Zimmerman, a sophomore manager, added. “That’s not probably the best environment to do that – 8 o’clock at night on a Wednesday asking someone to vote for your (X) poll.”

They also got help from MSU athletics director Zac Selmon, coach Chris Jans and various players promoting the poll via social media. Jordan even reached out to Ohio State’s managers to help defeat the Wolverines.

“I got an entire army of Buckeyes behind us,” Jordan said. “Honestly, without Ohio State, I’m not sure if we win that thing.”

Inside the day-to-day tasks of Mississippi State’s managers

The days for managers start in a similar fashion to most college students. They wake up and go to class, but from there, the responsibilities change.

In preparing for practices, the managers must set up tape on the courts and prepare ball racks – which isn’t always as simple as it appears. When the Adidas-sponsored Bulldogs play at a Nike school, then Nike balls must be ready for practice.

Rebounding is another big part of the job. Whether it be before or after practice, and at times at random hours, they will be under the hoop as players get shots up.

“The players are at the gym a lot, and give them a lot of credit, but we’re at the gym a lot too,” Zimmerman said.

Can Mississippi State’s managers make a run toward the title?

Mississippi State’s first matchup in Phoenix will be against No. 8 seed Illinois. A win would set up a semifinal contest against No. 12 seed Tennessee or No. 3 seed Arkansas. The other side of the bracket includes Michigan State, Kentucky, Fordham and Iowa State.

Jans’ Mississippi State teams have been known for defense. As for the managers, what they bring to the court will be a bit less intimidating.

“When they see us, they’re not going to expect much," Zimmerman said. "We don’t have anybody over 6-foot-2. I’m the tallest player. I probably weigh the least out of everybody, so it kind of evens out. But, gosh dang it, when we can shoot it, we can shoot it. It’s going to be a rough night for all of our opponents.”

Cherry is the go-to scorer, though Jordan gives senior Anderson Crechale some credit as well.

“I like my guys,” Jordan said. “I think we have a good shot.”

How Mississippi State is making the trip to Phoenix

Defeating Michigan in the poll was thrilling, but it came with a quick realization.

"We had about a week to figure out this whole trip,” freshman Cy Hallberg said.

Jordan compares the preparation for the trip, which the managers must pay for themselves, to a spring break plan.

“You’ve got to get out of the group chat phase in 48 hours,” Jordan says. “It was really stressful at first. That first night after we won the poll, that was really fun. Griffin and Henry immediately hit the gym. The second day it’s like, ‘All right, how the hell are we actually going to get there?’”

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The managers started an online fundraiser that has collected more than $4,500 as of Tuesday afternoon.

“To have the blessing of our fan support allows us to go out there,” Crechale said. “It’s super cool, super rewarding.”

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball has team playing at Final Four