ESPN's Joe Lunardio continues to trend Ole Miss towards its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance with his projections.
Summer workouts wrapped up earlier this month and now the Ole Miss men’s basketball team is hitting the books with the Fall semester getting started on Monday.
With school back in session the final Bracketology update of Summer was released by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi on Tuesday. Lunardi is releasing fresh NCAA Tournament projections each month leading up to the season starting in late October.
Ole Miss has trended for a second-straight NCAA Tournament bid all offseason, according to Lunardi, and this month’s update is no different. The Rebels are the 10 Seed in the South Region (Houston). They would play 7 Seed North Carolina State in Philadelphia for the First Round with a potential Second Round matchup with 2 Seed St. John’s.
There is already a regular season meeting between the Rebels and the Red Storm set for early December in New York City at Madison Square Garden.
The only change from July’s update is Lunardi moving Ole Miss off the group of Last Four Byes teams and firmly in the Field of 68. The Rebels are also one of 14 Southeastern Conference teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament in Lunardi’s projections.
Last season Chris Beard led Ole Miss to the program’s second ever Sweet 16 appearance. The Rebels March Madness run was ended by Michigan State in Atlanta.
The Rebels are a roster composted of nearly all new players with returners Malik Dia and Eduardo Klafke anchoring the team. Beard is still needing more out of his senior forward after a Summer of inconsistency.
“It’s time for these lights to come on. I respect Dia’s heart. I respect his intelligence, the way he goes about it and the way he lives his life,” Beard said earlier this month. “But it’s a bottom-line deal. The guy has extremely high expectations. He set his goals; I haven’t set them for him.
Ole Miss became whole last week when French native Ilias Kamardine arrived in Oxford. On Monday it was reported that the NCAA fully cleared Kamardine to be eligible for the upcoming season.
Category: General Sports
