09. Ole Miss Rebels
The good news is that Ole Miss is 2-0 this season. The not-so-good news is that the Rebels only managed to beat Grambling State by two points on Friday. Ole Miss easily beat LIU to open the season, 90-60. In that game, the Rebels recorded 10 steals and 13 blocks. Against Grambling Ole Miss only managed 66 points. It’s very concerning that an SEC team with NCAA Tournament aspirations would only make 35 percent from the floor against a SWAC team.
I expected Matthew Murrell to lead this team in scoring, but so far this season he is only averaging 9.5 points per game, well below what he averaged last season. But luckily for the Rebels, the defense has been good this season. Ole Miss is only giving up 62 points per game.
The Rebels will need to fix its poor shooting if Ole Miss expects to be competitive this season. I wanted to rank this team slightly lower, but the 2-0 start saved the Rebels from dropping in the power rankings. Moving forward Ole Miss has to be better on offense if it expects to win games.
08. Texas Longhorns
Texas lost to Ohio State to open the season 80-72. The Longhorns were one of the teams this offseason that added a ton of players from the transfer portal, so it’s understandable that it took a little for the team to mesh. Texas bounced back against Houston Christian later in the week to pick up its first win of the season.
Freshman Tre Johnson has been nothing short of amazing so far this season. Through his first two collegiate games, he is averaging 28.5 points while making an insane 55.6 percent from three. While Johnson has easily been the Longhorn's best player, the rest of the team will need to provide him with a little more support.
Texas has a pretty easy slate of games this week, as it takes one Chicago State and Mississippi Valley State. The Longhorns should win these games by a large margin. I still like this Texas team and I have confidence that Rodney Terry will keep this team winning. The loss to Ohio State, right now, isn’t a bad loss. Now if the Buckeyes fall off this season, then maybe I haven’t factored in the loss to OSU enough early on.
07. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mississippi State is off to a hot start. Through the first two games, the Bulldogs are 2-0 and are averaging 98 points per game. I know the two wins, against West Georgia and Georgia State, haven’t been against the toughest competition, but a Chris Jans team capable of putting up these offensive numbers is something to pay attention to.
Josh Hubbard was really good in his first season and has been great so far this season. Hubbard is averaging 20.5 points and shooting 69 percent from three. The Bulldogs haven’t sacrificed defense to put up huge offensive numbers. MSU has been incredibly efficient on both ends of the court. Offensively Mississippi State is making 56.9 percent from the floor while holding opponents to 36 percent.
The only thing preventing me from ranking the Bulldogs higher is the level of competition MSU has faced this season. Mississippi State has a tough stretch of games coming up, so I’m looking forward to seeing how well it holds up against quality opponents. But at any rate, I like what I’ve seen so far.