JACKSON — Mississippi State wore the label of hottest team in the Southeastern Conference, until it was snatched away by LSU last weekend. The Bulldogs will certainly try to get it back, but in this topsy-turvy season, it could be any one of eight teams wearing it by week’s end.

The SEC Tournament begins Wednesday morning in Hoover, Ala., with three favorites and a gang of five teams behind them hungry to shore up NCAA Tournament resumés. South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt tied for first place in the Eastern Division. Four teams were separated by a game in the West.

“Anybody can get hot at any time of the day. The SEC Tournament has always been like that. LSU was an 8-seed last year and they won it, so I think anybody can do that,” Mississippi State third baseman Jarrod Parks said.

Mississippi State won’t go in as the No. 8 seed — that distinction belongs to Auburn — but it’s also not quite as high as it could be. After winning nine of 10 heading into the series with LSU, the Bulldogs (34-21) dropped two out of three to head into the tournament on a sour note. They wound up seeded sixth and will face Florida (41-15) on Wednesday at noon in their first SEC Tournament game since 2007.

“It’s going to be great. Even if we go two-and-out it’s still going to be an experience to play in Hoover,” Parks said.