NCAA Basketball: Syracuse and Louisville among teams with key MTEs on their schedules

Mississippi Rebels

The Ole Miss Rebels have made the NCAA tournament once in the last ten years, and haven't won a game in the tournament since 2013. Last year was the first full season that Beard had coached and failed to reach the big dance since his first year at Texas Tech. The school and coach hope those trends end in 2024-25.

Last season for the Rebels, four players accounted for 57.7 of the team’s 74.9 points, and luckily for Beard, three of those four returned. Matthew Murrell, Jaylen Murray, and Jaemyn Brakefield are the three returning seniors, but this summer, Beard wanted to build a roster that has more scoring and depth. The Rebels brought in six transfers, five of which were first or second in scoring at their previous stop. Sean Pedulla brings his shooting and ability to play point from Virginia Tech, Davon Barnes from Sam Houston and Seton Hall’s Dre Davis bring more high-level scoring, and Malik Dia (Belmont) and Mikeal Brown-Jones (UNC-Greensboro) are a couple of interior threats.

If Ole Miss wants to make a statement early on, they certainly have a chance at the Rady Children's Invitational. They open with a matchup against BYU and will face either Purdue or N.C. State in their second game of the tournament. While this tournament likely won’t be a main foundation piece of their resume, how they perform here could make a difference in an at-large discussion.