The 2016–17 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team represented Middle Tennessee State University during the

2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 11, 2016. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic, and ended with the Final Four in Glendale, Arizona on April 3, 2017. Practices officially began on September 30, 2 ...

. The Blue Raiders, led by 15th-year head coach

Kermit Davis John Kermit Davis Jr. (born December 14, 1959) is an American college basketball coach for the Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball, Ole Miss Rebels. Davis was previously the head coach at Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball, Middle Tennes ...

, played their home games at the

Murphy Center Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center (commonly known as the Murphy Center) is the name of the main athletic department building at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The building opened December 11, 1972, and is named in ...

Murfreesboro, Tennessee Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

and were members of

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

. They finished the season 31–5, 17–1 in C-USA play to win the regular season championship. In the C-USA tournament, they defeated UTSA,

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

, and Marshall to win the C-USA Tournament. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 12 seed in the South region, they defeated

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in the first round before losing in the second round to

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

Previous season

The Blue Raiders finished the 2015–16 season 25–10, 13–5 in C-USA play to finish in second place. They defeated

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, Marshall, and

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

to win the C-USA tournament. As a result, they earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As a No. 15 seed in the Tournament, they upset No. 2 seed and No. 2-ranked

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

in the first round to become only the eighth No. 15 seed to win an NCAA Tournament game. In the Second Round they lost to eventual Final Four participant,

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

Offseason

Departures

Incoming Transfers

Recruiting class of 2016

Preseason

The Blue Raiders were picked to finish in second place in the preseason Conference USA poll. Giddy Potts and Reggie Upshaw Jr. were selected to the preseason All-Conference USA team.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Conference USA regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Conference USA tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball team Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders men's basketball seasons

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders are the men's and women's athletic teams at Middle Tennessee State University, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. MT athletic teams participate in NCAA Division I (Bowl Subdivision in football) in Conference USA. MT com ...