Ole Miss at No. 5 Florida: How to watch, start time, TV channel

Chris Beard has said repeatedly in his two seasons at Ole Miss the goal for the Rebels isn’t simply to reach the NCAA Tournament. 

No, Beard expects to make a run. 

The Rebels (21-9, 10-7 SEC) have positioned themselves to do just that after taking down No. 4 Tennessee on Wednesday. The Rebels made history in securing their first-ever season with a pair of Top 5 wins.

“We’ve never talked about making the tournament,” Beard said. “I’ve mentioned that several times. Keith (Carter, Ole Miss athletics director) probably gets tired of me talking about that conversation we had, but we talk about trying to win the tournament. To do that seeding is important. 

“We got opportunity week right here. The next game is a real opportunity, too. Will it be easy? No. Will it be probable? No. I don’t know. But would it be possible in March? Anything’s possible in March.”

ESPN curiously has the Rebels only projected as an 7-seed. 

By comparison, the Rebels won at Louisville by 20 points in the non-conference slate, to go with the wins over Tennessee and at then-No. 4 Alabama, the first Top 5 road win in program history.

The Cardinals, though, are a projected 6-seed and despite no wins over Top 25 teams.

Ole Miss will close out the regular season at No. 5 Florida (26-4, 13-4). Tipoff on Saturday is 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network. The Rebels are on the cusp of their 10th all-time NCAA Tournament berth and first since 2018-19. 

Beard, in his second season, has been eight times in his career. Ole Miss will be the fourth different program he’s taken to the ‘Big Dance.’ He guided Texas Tech to the title game in 2019.

HOW TO WATCH

Television/Online: SEC Network
Play-by-Play: John Schriffen
Analyst: Richard Hendrix

HOW TO LISTEN

Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Marc Dukes

SERIES HISTORY 

Saturday will be the 120th all-time meeting between Florida and Ole Miss in men’s basketball. 

The Gators hold a commanding 70-49 lead in the series. They’re 43-12 in Gainesville and have won six of the last 10. Ole Miss came out on top the only matchup last year, 103-85. 

Jaemyn Brakefield, who’s fresh off an unforgettable performance on Senior Night in the win over Tennessee, had 28 points on 11 of 16 from the field. He added five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Matthew Murrell chipped in 23 points, three rebounds, four assists, one block and two steals.

“I love him. I love the way he plays (and) his game,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said of Brakefield. “He’s patient and everything he did with his shot fakes, driving.”

Brakefield scored all 19 of his points in the second half.

His 188 offensive rating in the win was greater than the season highs for both Duke’s Cooper Flagg (180) and Auburn’s Johni Broome (151). Flagg and Broome are leading contenders for NCAA Player of the Year.

“He’s a really good angle player, got great hands and again, he’s a terrific player,” Barnes said. “He had his way with us. I mean, anybody, we tried different guys on him, but whatever he wanted to do. You let a player like that start feeling good, that rim opens up for him, (gets) bigger, but he really fought hard to get space where he wanted it, which is what really good players do. That’s what he did.” 

SCOUTING FLORIDA

Florida is arguably college basketball’s hottest team. 

The Gators boast a stout postseason resume, including non-conference wins over Florida State, Wake Forest, Wichita State, Virginia, Arizona State, and North Carolina. They won both of their matchups with No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 7 Alabama. 

Florida is second in the SEC standings and fifth in both national polls. They’re No. 4 in the NET. Ole Miss is No. 7 in the SEC and No. 27 in the NET.

Walter Clayton, Jr., was Florida’s leading scorer (23) in the loss at Ole Miss last season.

He’s sixth in the SEC in points (17.0) a year later, while Alex Condon is seventh in rebounds (7.7). Florida is the nation’s third-best rebounding team (42.2).

The Gators are second in the SEC and 10th in all of college basketball in rebound margin (+8.3). Florida has two other players pulling down six rebounds or more: Rueben Chinyelu (6.5) and Thomas Haugh (6.0). The Gators are scoring 84.3 points per game, the country’s ninth-best mark, and their 17.1 fast-break points are best in the SEC and second-most nationally.

Todd Golden has won 66 games in three seasons as Florida head coach. The Gators reached the NCAA Tournament in 2023-24. However, they were bounced by Colorado in the first round, 102-100. They’re currently projected as a 1-seed this year.

Golden was previously at San Francisco. He led the Dons to 57 wins in three seasons, including a 24-win campaign in 2021-22. They finished fourth in the WCC and went to the NCAA Tournament.