Ole Miss Basketball: Rebels overlooked as NCAA Tournament team

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 30: Mississippi Rebels head coach Andy Kennedy directs his team during the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during their championshiop game of the Barclays Center Classic at Barclays Center on November 30, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 30: Mississippi Rebels head coach Andy Kennedy directs his team during the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during their championshiop game of the Barclays Center Classic at Barclays Center on November 30, 2013 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

The Ole Miss Rebels are quietly one of the better teams in the SEC. Could Andy Kennedy’s squad be a potential NCAA Tournament team in the waiting?

The Ole Miss Rebels earned a trip to the NIT last season and bring back many key players from that team. Five players who logged over 19 minutes per game have returned which includes two of their top three scorers. The Rebels have also added a highly ranked recruit and three impact transfers. With this mix of experience and incoming talent, you would think that Ole Miss would be considered a potential NCAA Tournament team, but they are nowhere to be found in preseason projections.

One reason why Ole Miss is excluded from NCAA Tournament projections is that they failed to make the tournament last season. However, this should not be a factor whatsoever since Virginia Tech, Creighton, South Carolina, St. Mary’s, Florida State, and Florida all participated in the 2016 NIT and then earned a berth in the 2017 NCAA tournament.

All of those teams were in the same position as Ole Miss. They all mixed a strong group of returners with a few talented newcomers. For example, Florida lost their leading scorer, Dorian Finney-Smith, but returned almost everyone else and added a key player in Canyon Barry. This formula led Florida to a high seed and a deep tournament run.

While Ole Miss will probably not be as good as Florida was last year, the point is still valid. Do not overlook a team just because they played in the NIT the year before. A team like Ole Miss who returns and adds quality players should be included in preseason tournament fields.

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