Mississippi guard Stefan Moody goes up for a shot in Saturday’s game against Florida. DM Photo | Payton Teffner
Ole Miss added to it’s tournament resumé Saturday knocking off Florida 72-71. It was an electric atmosphere in the Tad Pad that helped the Rebels secure a much needed victory that could serve as a spark to a team trying to find it’s way.
After the Florida win, I began to look at where Ole Miss stands in regards to it’s NCAA Tournament status and what the Rebels need to do to punch their ticket.
Consistency is what the Rebels need over the last 12 games of the season in order to make a run for March Madness. The Rebels have to play more consistent, especially at home. Four of the Rebels seven losses have come at home. Ole Miss has had quality resumé-building wins over teams such as Cincinnati, Arkansas and Florida, but also had some crucial losses at home against LSU, TCU and Western Kentucky.
It has been a season of ups and downs. This team has had low moments like losing to mid major Charleston Southern at home in the opening game of the season. There have also been some shining moments like going blow for blow in Rupp Arena with the most talented team in college basketball in Kentucky. A game the Rebels probably win if not for a key turnover in the final minute or if Stefan Moody does not cramp up in overtime.
The most significant thing I took away from Saturday’s win is that the team found a way to pull out a close game down the stretch after being on the other end of a few earlier this season. Maybe that was the spark this team needed to play a more consistent brand of basketball and to string together a few victories in a row.
One thing this team has going for it is depth. Andy Kennedy has the luxury of playing a lot of guys on a nightly basis. Sophomore forward Sebastian Siaz has developed into a nice player that makes several hustle plays that don’t necessarily show up in the stat sheet. Senior forward MJ Rhett and sophomore forward Dwight Coleby continue to improve every game and are developing into solid low post players. When it all comes down to it, this team will go as far as it’s guard play will let it and that all starts with senior leader Jarvis Summers and junior transfer Stefan Moody. If the Rebels are going to punch their ticket in march, look no further than these two to lead the charge and make it happen.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi recently released his latest “bracketology” and has the Rebels listed as one of his “first four out” teams. What this means is that the Rebels sit on the outside looking in with regards to the NCAA tournament. Ole Miss needs to take care of business against Mississippi State and a struggling Missouri club before hitting a tough four game stretch that includes road games at Auburn and Florida as well as two huge home games coming against Texas A&M and Arkansas. The Rebels best win of the year came on the road against Arkansas two weeks ago. Texas A&M is also listed as one of Lunardi’s First Four Out making that game all the more meaningful.
The Rebels have 5 games remaining against RPI top 60 teams, three of them coming at home. Consistency will be the largest determining factor in the Rebels success the remainder of this year. My prediction is that the Rebels will need to go at least 9-3 in the remaining 12 games if they want to have a legitimate chance to earn an NCAA tournament birth. Even going 9-3 may still leave work left to be done in the SEC tournament. It will be an interesting and entertaining finish to the 2014-15 campaign.
