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Ole Miss Basketball: Rebels overlooked as NCAA Tournament team

By Brad Cavallaro

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)
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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JACKSONVILLE, FL – MARCH 19: Head coach Andy Kennedy of the Mississippi Rebels calls out in the first half against the Xavier Musketeers during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on March 19, 2015 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL – MARCH 19: Head coach Andy Kennedy of the Mississippi Rebels calls out in the first half against the Xavier Musketeers during the second round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on March 19, 2015 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

Teams Ranked Ahead of Ole Miss

Wisconsin, Florida State, Arkansas, and Michigan are included in preseason NCAA Tournament fields, but, when you compare these teams to Ole Miss they do not seem superior. Ole Miss should be ranked ahead of these teams, or at least grouped with them, but the Rebels don’t even seem to be in consideration

Wisconsin was a No. 8 seed and lost four starters including Bronson Koenig and Nigel Hayes. Florida State lost their three best players, Jonathan Isaac, Dwayne Bacon, and Xavier Rathan Mayes. Arkansas was a No. 8 seed and lost Dusty Hannahs and Moses Kingsley, two of their best players. Michigan also lost their three best players in DJ Wilson, Derrick Walton, and Zak Irvin.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has all four of these teams in his projected field. He has Wisconsin as a No. 8 seed, Florida State as a No. 6 seed, Arkansas as a No. 11 seed, and Michigan as a No. 7 seed. Lunardi even has Iowa State who lost their four best players as a No. 10 seed while Ole Miss isn’t even in his first eight out. It seems like the Rebels were not even under consideration.

Jerry Palm from CBS also included the previously mentioned four teams in his projected bracket. He has Wisconsin as an 8 seed, Florida State as a 12 seed, and Arkansas and Michigan as No. 10 seeds, but no mention of Ole Miss.

How can teams that lost so much be ranked ahead of the Rebels? These teams are not bringing in Kentucky or Duke caliber recruiting classes where they can just reload. Only time will tell, but it definitely seems like Ole Miss deserves more national respect.

I’m not saying these teams are not tournament caliber teams. In fact, I have some of them in my preseason projected field. However, if they are considered tournament caliber teams, then Ole Miss should be considered one as well.

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Ole Miss is a team that improved both their backcourt and frontcourt and returns key players from a solid NIT team. When comparing Ole Miss to teams in similar situations with similar talent it is clear that the Rebels are not getting the respect that they deserve. We will find out in November, but this Ole Miss team is NCAA tournament caliber and the evidence is overwhelming.

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