(Photo from Ole Miss Athletics)
- Ole Miss and Mississippi State are in the NCAA Tournament in the same season for the first time since 2019.
March Madness is here, Mississippi’s two SEC entries are in, and neither should complain about their seeding.
Given the anticipation of the bracket reveal, the expectations within each fan base, complaints for many fan bases are a big part of the tradition, and we as humans have made disenchantment an art form.
The drama was removed for Ole Miss and Mississippi State within the first quarter of the Selection Show.
Ole Miss, a 6 seed in the South Region, on Friday will face the winner of the San Diego State-North Carolina “First Four” game in Dayton.
Auburn is the No. 1 seed in the South and the overall tournament.
Mississippi State, an 8 seed in the East, will face 9 seed Baylor in Raleigh, North Carolina, the winner likely facing region No. 1 seed Duke about a half hour from the Blue Devils’ campus.
The Bulldogs, perhaps, could have better affected their seeding with a longer stay in the SEC Tournament.
A win over LSU – a three-time winner in conference play — did at least allow State to reverse its recent fortune, a five-game run to the finish line that included only a win over that same LSU team, did little to move the needle.
A win over No. 21 Missouri might have.
For all the metrics, all the bracketologists with the “in and out” of their crystal balls through January and February, there’s still a human element to Selection Sunday. The totality of work is considered. State had a nice win over Texas A&M and a solid road win over Ole Miss, but the heavy lifting of the resume was done in the pre-conference with road wins against SMU and Memphis. There were good-looking early wins against Utah and Pittsburgh, but those teams turned out to be pretty average in their conferences.
The big ones that got away
In the nation’s toughest conference, the Bulldogs had no wins against any team that had a double-bye in the SEC Tournament.
It was speculated by some that eight conference wins in the regular season would be enough for an NCAA at-large bid, and the Bulldogs proved that theory.
Ole Miss would like to be able to claim a win over its rivals but cannot. In fact, the Rebels didn’t play well in either game, falling way behind in Starkville and expending so much energy in the comeback then getting outplayed in the second half in Oxford.
But the Rebels had more balance to the worksheet. There were wins against Louisville, which finished second in the ACC, and BYU, fourth in the Big 12.
But heads turned for the Rebels when they knocked off Alabama on the road then later Tennessee in the Rebels’ final home game.
The SEC Tournament was solid for Ole Miss as the Rebels knocked off Arkansas, an eight-win bubble team, with a splendid March Madness-style ending on Sean Pedulla’s buzzer beater.
Then they were much more competitive with Auburn than they were in two regular season losses.
The reality is Ole Miss probably benefits more from getting home Friday night for a restful weekend – severe weather notwithstanding – than it would have with a deep Nashville run for which it didn’t have the depth to finish.
State was better against Missouri than it was in the regular season, ahead at the nine-minute mark this time, but the Tigers frustrated Josh Hubbard. He had 24 points but wasn’t every efficient going 3-for-14 from 3.
Now the Bulldogs will try to contain Baylor’s Norchad Omier, a double-double machine with 15.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game, and V.J. Edgecombe, the Big 12’s freshman of the year with 15 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.1 steals.
Baylor, like State, went 1-1 in its conference tournament, losing to Texas Tech in the second round. The Bears are 18-14 overall.
It’s March, and anything can happen, but the Rebels will likely face a blue blood with a rich tournament tradition.
Many though have questioned North Carolina’s entry this season after its 1-12 record in Quad 1 games.
Guards Ian Jackson and R.J. Davis are shooting 39.6% and 34.5% from 3 for the Tar Heels.
Ole Miss and State are in the tournament in the same season for the first time since 2019, which was also the Rebels’ last appearance.
The likely Ole Miss-North Carolina matchup was impacted by former Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy, now at UAB.
Had Kennedy and the Blazers upset Memphis in the finals of The American tournament, Memphis would have made the field as an at-large team, and North Carolina would have been out, said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill, a member of the selection committee.
A nod to the SEC
The fact that the Bulldogs, after an 8-10 SEC record, are so solidly in the field is a testament to the strength of the SEC.
State is making its third appearance in three seasons under Chris Jans but will be looking for its first tournament win in that span.
Ole Miss down the stretch was most often projected as a 7 or 8 seed. It’s standing no doubt benefited from the late-season win against Tennessee.
Overall it’s a good starting point for the Rebels and Bulldogs.
No complaining here.
Parrish Alford
