SEC Basketball: Final 2019-20 power rankings for end of the season

By Dakota Cox | Mar 23, 2020

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY - NOVEMBER 12: John Calipari the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts to a mistake by his team in the first half in the game against the Evansville Aces at Rupp Arena on November 12, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 22: The Mississippi Rebels (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

13. Ole Miss Rebels

The Mississippi Rebels struggled this year despite managing to retain Breein Tyree from last year. I’m sure that they were hoping for more progress as his role increased, but it appears that he didn’t have another gear to him.

It’s unfair to put all the blame on Tyree, though. After all, he nearly scored 20 points a game this year. There just wasn’t an offensive supporting cast around him. Their shooting inside was weak, their perimeter shooting was only slightly better, and they failed to get to the free throw line.

College basketball is a game of upsets. Every good team has to be able to win a few games where the odds are stacked against them. Ole Miss failed to do that a single time this year. Their only win against an SEC team on the road was against Georgia, and you can hardly call that an upset.

We saw a regression in Kermit Davis’s second year as head coach, but we’ll see what happens in year three. It’s not absurd to think that they will get back in the NCAA Tournament chase. If they do, it will take someone filling the shoes of Tyree. I’m not sure if that is possible, but it’s almost necessary.

It can be a team effort, but something has to happen for Ole Miss to improve and get closer to where they were last season.

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