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Ole Miss

Chris Beard previews SEC/ACC Challenge matchup vs. Miami

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh06/18/25griffin_mcveigh
NCAA Basketball: Mississippi at Louisiana State
Feb 8, 2025; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Chris Beard against the LSU Tigers during the first half at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

One of the SEC/ACC Challenge’s headline matchups will take place in Oxford. Ole Miss will welcome Miami to the Pavilion for what should be a fun nonconference showdown. Chris Beard will be going up against Jai Lucas, both of whom have some Texas ties on their resume.

The game might be a few months away but Beard recently took some time to preview the Miami game. He was highly complimentary of Lucas and the job he has done as an assistant. This will be Lucas’ first go-round as a head coach and Beard knows a tough test will be ahead.

“Looking forward to the ACC Challenge,” Beard said. “Miami coming to Oxford, home game. That’s an important thing for a lot of reasons. Want to try to have quality opponents for the season ticket holders. Coach Lucas, friend of mine. Known him since he was a player and competed against him over the years. A lot of respect. Also, recently, what he did at Duke. So, we know this about Miami — they’re going to be talented. They did a really good job recruiting the spring portal.”

One game between Ole Miss and Miami has happened throughout the two programs’ history. Back in 2011, the Rebels won a three-point game in overtime. Andy Kennedy was in charge while Jim Larranaga was in his first season as the Hurricanes’ head coach.

So with no recent head-to-head matchup, Beard took a game off last year’s schedule for comparison. Ole Miss faced Louisville in the SEC/ACC Challenge and Beard was high on them throughout. Pat Kelsey had just taken over and seemingly going through a rebuild. Instead, the Cardinals made a run to the NCAA Tournament.

Beard sees something similar with Lucas and Miami heading into 2025-2026. He believes the Hurricanes can make some noise due to a talented roster. In his eyes, a great chance for Ole Miss to snag a quality win.

“Very similar, I think, to the Louisville game last year,” Beard said. “Louisville being a first-year program. I kind of had a feeling that I felt very strongly about that Louisville was going to be a really good opponent and an NCAA Tournament team, where most people disagreed with that. I think the same thing can be said about Miami. I think their coaching staff knows what they’re doing. They did a great job assembling talent to the roster. So, it will be a great opportunity game for us.”