Bracket Watch: Ole Miss men move back into the NCAA Tournament field
Another Tuesday brings new projections to the NCAA Tournament brackets and the Ole Miss basketball programs continue to trend towards more history come March.
Both programs have never played in its respective NCAA Tournaments in the same season before, but that could change in a little over a month’s time.
The Ole Miss men’s team is back inside the Field of 68 with a 2-0 week last week and wins over Arkansas and its first road win of the season coming at Texas A&M this past Saturday.
For the women’s team the Rebels are firmly inside their respective bracket thanks to a current three-game winning streak over the last two weeks, including this past Sunday’s win over Tennessee — the third win in the series for Ole Miss in the last 30 years.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released his latest ‘Bracketology’ update and after having the men on the outside looking in last Friday he has moved them off the bubble. The Rebels are the 9-Seed in the West Region (Los Angeles) and paired with 8-Seed Michigan State in the Charlotte quadrant. A win in the first round could see Ole Miss play 1-Seed North Carolina based on Lunardi’s projection.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports put out his updated projections on Monday, having Ole Miss as the 8-Seed in the Midwest Region (Detroit), taking on 9-Seed Utah. A win could see the Rebels take on 1-Seed Purdue in the second round of the Indianapolis quadrant.
Ole Miss (17-3, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) hosts Mississippi State (14-6, 3-4) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. CT and another good NET-boost opportunity. The Bulldogs enter the the game at 37 in the latest NET rankings and the Rebels are at 57.
The Ole Miss women’s team is trending towards a three-peat in NCAA Tournament bids after a 14-year drought.
Charlie Creme of ESPN released his newest ‘Bracketology’ update on Tuesday with the Rebels moving up to the 7-Seed of Portland Region 3.
Ole Miss would take on 10-Seed Iowa State in the Boulder quadrant with the potential to play 2-Seed Colorado in the second round based on Creme’s projection.
If sixth-year head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin can lead the Rebels to a postseason bid it would be the first time the program has made it to three consecutive NCAA Tournaments since a run in 1994-96.
