Bracket Watch: Ole Miss men become a bubble team with latest SEC skid
What a difference a week can make and the Ole Miss men’s basketball team is finding out how true the statement is after rough road trip through the Southeastern Conference.
Following losses at LSU and No. 13 Auburn the Rebels saw their NCAA Tournament chances take a big hit after losing two chances to continue bolstering their résumé. Winless in the SEC after three attempts is hurting and the latest bracketology updates on Tuesday prove this to be the case.
After starting 13-0 and winning two of its first three conference games the Rebels were a strong tournament team with a projection of being an 8-Seed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. This week’s new update has changed things drastically.
Ole Miss (15-3, 2-3 SEC) is once more a bubble team, falling out of the Top 25 rankings this week. It shifted to an 11-Seed as a one of the Last Four In teams and part of the First Four play-in. Lunardi’s latest projections show the margin for error over the final 13 SEC games is very thin for the Rebels.
The Rebels are paired with Kansas State in trying to be the 11-Seed in the South Region (Dallas) with the winner advancing to play No. 6 Seed Colorado State in Pittsburgh in the Round of 64.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has Ole Miss down from a 5 Seed to an 9 Seed in the South Region taking on No. 8 Seed Boise State in Memphis.
In the latest NET Rankings Ole Miss has held steady at 70 since Saturday’s loss to Auburn, providing further evidence of it becoming a bubble team. The Rebels are No. 78 in the latest KenPom rankings.
“Still got a lot of belief in our guys,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said on Saturday. “I believe we can play and win games like this. We just have to get back to the drawing board.
Ole Miss hosts Arkansas on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU
The Ole Miss women’s team reversed its fortunes after losing to in-state rival Mississippi State a week ago.
A trip to Athens, Georgia turned out to be a positive one for the Rebels and head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin besting the Bulldogs 69-59 and getting back the SEC win column.
With only one game last week the victory helped keep Ole Miss firmly in the NCAA Tournament field with ESPN’s Charlie Creme’s latest projections. The Rebels (13-5, 3-2) are still considered an 8-Seed in Portland Region 3.
Paired with No. 9-Seed Maryland, Ole Miss is in the Boulder quadrant and would face No. 1 Seed Colorado in the second round of Creme’s projections.
In the latest women’s NET rankings the Rebels are still sitting at 55.
This is a homestand week for Ole Miss, hosting Florida on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network and Tennessee on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN.
