Must-See Highlights: Ole Miss basketball all but punches NCAA Tournament ticket
Chris Beard acknowledged the obvious following Ole Miss basketball’s 87-84 win over Oklahoma on Saturday.
The Rebels weren’t in any real NCAA Tournament jeopardy. However, they’d lost three straight games. March was looking more sad than mad. They were backing into their 10th all-time appearance.
“Must-win? Absolutely,” Beard said in his postgame press conference. “But it’s March. What win in March isn’t a must-win?”
He’s right, obviously.
Ole Miss (20-9, 9-7 SEC) entered play as a projected 7-seed by both ESPN and CBS. The Rebels were in consideration for a 4-seed barely a month ago.
Their resume and overall body of work, including a strong non-conference, were probably enough to get in even had they lost out.
But Beard isn’t just trying to make the NCAA Tournament, which is essentially what the Rebels did last they danced in 2018-19. They had one win in the regular season’s final weeks, were bounced in the first round of the SEC Tournament and embarrassed by Oklahoma in an 8/9 matchup.
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These Rebels aspire for more. They’re trying to make a run.
“We’ve always thought you want to go into the NCAA Tournament winning games,” Beard said. This is March. The whole idea of must-win, it’s real.
“We feel the same thing the fans feel and everybody feels. I said, ‘Guys, don’t let the stress get to you. Just focus on the defensive end and the next-play mentality, not the next shot or what the scoreboard is even saying.’
“But that’s what March is.”
Ole Miss has won 20 games for the second straight season. The Rebels’ greatest all-time achievement in a single Sweet 16 appearance in 2001.
“Trust me, when you get to that tournament, it’s all must-win,” Beard said. “You’re dying to go back to that hotel to have one more day with your teammates. You’re one game from the Sweet 16.”
