Suddenly, Mississippi State has the look of a very dangerous team.

After beating archrival Ole Miss on Thursday night, the 20th-ranked Bulldogs have a quick turnaround to host Georgia today. Mississippi State will be going for win No. 20 on the season — a number that often guarantees an NCAA Tournament berth for major conference teams — and its third consecutive victory.

The Southeastern Conference regular-season title is probably out of reach for Mississippi State (19-5, 6-3), which trails top-ranked Kentucky by 3 1/2 games. MSU can, however, clinch one of the four first-round byes in the SEC Tournament with a strong stretch run and build momentum heading into the Big Dance of the NCAA Tournament.

MSU routed Ole Miss, 70-60, in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. The Bulldogs never trailed after a game-opening 8-0 run and turned it into a parade of highlight-reel dunks.

“We talked about how well we played just now, but tomorrow we will talk about Georgia. A win like this, you enjoy it in the locker room,” MSU coach Rick Stansbury said after the win over the Rebels. “At this time of year you have to get at that level. It’s hard to maintain it through 30 games, but now we’re down to seven games. Georgia counts just as much as Ole Miss. This is a great example of the passion we need to have playing down the stretch.”

The next challenge seems easy, at least at first glance.

Georgia (11-12, 2-7) has struggled this season. It has had losing streaks of three and four games in SEC play, and is last in the league in scoring offense at 61.5 points per game.

Georgia, though, comes to Starkville rested and perhaps rejuvenated after dismantling Arkansas 81-59 on Wednesday. Georgia never trailed in that game, went 9-for-20 from 3-point range and led by 19 at halftime. Gerald Robinson scored 27 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 18.

That eye-opening victory should cure the homestanding Bulldogs of any hangover following Thursday’s victory, Stansbury said.

“Georgia is coming off its most impressive victory of the season,” Stansbury said. “What they did to a very good Arkansas team catches your attention.”

MSU will honor its “Team of the Century” at halftime today.

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