Bracket Watch: It is all about seeding for Ole Miss heading into final 'Bracketology' updates
The regular season ends on Saturday for the Ole Miss men’s basketball team while women’s basketball is wrapping up the Southeastern Conference tournament this weekend.
For the men it is a chance to have its best week of the season coming off its win over No. 4 Tennessee on Wednesday and traveling to No. 5 Florida for the opportunity for its third win over a top five program.
Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7 SEC) is sitting in great shape for the NCAA Tournament and now it is just all about seeding on Saturday and next week in Nashville during the SEC Tournament. The win over the Volunteers boosted the Rebels up in one projection and not so much in another ‘Bracketology’ update on Friday.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi bumped the Rebels up to a 7 Seed in the West Region (San Francisco) after Wednesday’s win. They would start in Wichita, Kansas against 10 Seed Utah State in the first round. Joining them is 2 Seed Texas Tech — a former Chris Beard team — and 15 Seed Bryant.
Jerry Palm of CBS Sports is a tad more bullish on Ole Miss after the win over the Volunteers. He has the Rebels as the 5 Seed of the East Region (Newark), starting in Seattle against 12 Seed McNeese State. The other two teams in the quadrants are 4 Seed Oregon and 13 Seed Lipscomb.
In Friday’s NET rankings update the Rebels are No. 27 heading into the game against the Gators.
Plenty can, and will, change in these projections after Saturday and throughout next week with conference tournaments ahead of Selection Sunday on March 16.
Things continue to trend towards Ole Miss having NCAA Tournament games in Oxford.
The Ole Miss women’s team knocked off Mississippi State in Thursday’s second round of the SEC Tournament, advancing to its fifth straight quarterfinals and a date with 2 Seed Texas.
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Thursday’s victory might have all but secured a top four host seed for the Rebels (20-9) coming off its win at No. 7 LSU on Sunday to close out the regular season. Charlie Creme, ESPN’s resident women’s basketball bracketologist, put them back in the Top 16 seed list after the win in Baton Rouge.
On Friday Creme still had Ole Miss as a host seed, placing them as the 4 Seed in Region 3 Spokane — moving them out of potentially playing in Birmingham during the second weekend — and hosting posting postseason basketball in Oxford for the first time since 1994.
The Rebels are currently No. 12 in the latest NET rankings on Friday.
“Hosting will mean that these young ladies, team 50, were brave enough even when we lost to Texas A&M, even when we lost to Texas close, even when we lost to South Carolina, to go after their dreams,” Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said after Thursday’s win.
Joining the Rebels at the SJB Pavilion in two weeks would be 5 Seed Baylor, 12 Seed Florida Gulf Coast and 13 Seed Missouri State, who would play the Rebels in the first round.
