Chris Beard: College basketball uses neutral sites to ‘stay away from’ Quad 2, 3 games

Ole Miss coach Chris Beard explained the value of neutral site games in building a solid NCAA Tournament resume recently. He noted that scheduling a neutral site contest is often only a one-year commitment compared to agreeing to a home-and-home with another team in the nonconference.

The coach also pointed out that neutral site games also get more weight to determine whether the game is a Quad 1 game or lower. Facing a team with a top 50 RPI at a neutral location is considered a Quad 1 game, compared to only a top 30 RPI team for home games.

“One reason is that instead of starting a two-year series, you can play somebody like that in one-time pop,” Beard explained. “Obviously, there’s some money generating ways through those games as well. I think one of the equations now is we’re all looking for Quad 1 games. We’re trying to stay away from the Quad 3s and even the Quad 2s.

“In some cases, the game is more valued. So for us last year, I think I’m accurate in saying this, the Colorado State game ended up being a Quad 1 game for us because of the season they had.”

The Rebels played Colorado State in November of this past season in Southaven, Mississippi. They came away with an 84-69 victory that ended up being one of their 10 Quad 1 wins on the year. It helped them to earn a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.

In the SEC for the 2025-26 season, Arkansas has already announced a neutral site game against Duke for Thanksgiving Day. The nonconference schedule for Ole Miss has still yet to be finalized, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Rebels add another neutral site game to their slate.

Chris Beard is getting ready to enter his third season in Oxford and has led the team to at least 20 wins in each of his first two years. He’s had success at his previous stops at Texas Tech and Texas as well, leading the Red Raiders to a national championship appearance in 2019.

He knows part of putting his team in a position to do so is creating a challenging schedule that can help prepare them for their path through March Madness. A big part of doing that is being willing to go out on a limb and play away from home, which Beard has shown a willingness to do.