21. Mississippi (12-2)
Last season, Ole Miss got off to a really good start in Chris Beard’s first season but these Rebels were clearly overwhelmed when SEC play began. This season, the first half of that story is really similar for a team with a couple of nice wins but a resume that is certainly lacking. They’ll get no shortage of resume-building opportunities this week, but how did they bounce back after that tough loss at Memphis?
SEC play began for these Rebels this weekend with a home date against Georgia, with Mississippi starting things on the right foot. Ole Miss won 63-51, getting a double-digit victory over a Bulldogs squad that has been really solid in the first few months of the season. Both Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield had 15 points in the win in what was probably the Rebels’ best defensive effort of the season.
If the Rebels were going to make a strong opening statement, then that performance over Georgia was a pretty good statement to make. We’re going to see this team really get tested in the weeks ahead, and they’re definitely going to need more consistency on offense, but that defensive performance was an amazing start. Next week sees their first league road test at Arkansas, though the really tough stretch is coming soon after that.