Ole Miss Basketball Is Battling More Than Just Opponents Right Now
Sometimes, it feels like the basketball gods are testing Ole Miss. From travel headaches and roster delays to weather disasters and tough scheduling, the Rebels haven’t exactly had the smoothest ride this season. But in the SEC, nobody’s handing out sympathy wins - and if Ole Miss wants to make a move, it’s going to have to dig deep and create its own momentum.
Let’s rewind a bit to see how we got here.
In today’s college basketball landscape, roster construction is a spring-and-summer sprint. Teams are thrown together in May, start working out in June, and hope to have some chemistry by tip-off in November.
For Ole Miss, that timeline got thrown off when French guard Ilias Kamardine didn’t arrive until August. That’s a late start for a key piece, and the adjustment period - both for Kamardine to the American game and for the rest of the team to him - was always going to take time.
That lack of cohesion was on full display during back-to-back losses in Palm Desert, California, over Thanksgiving week. The first one, a competitive showing against a strong Iowa squad (KenPom No. 23), wasn’t a killer.
But the next night’s loss to Utah (KenPom No. 113) stung. And it didn’t help that most Ole Miss fans were preoccupied with the Lane Kiffin coaching saga rather than watching early-morning West Coast hoops.
The day after Thanksgiving brought a football high - a win in the Egg Bowl. But that same weekend, Alabama’s win over Auburn knocked Ole Miss out of SEC title contention, and the Kiffin-to-LSU rumors kicked into overdrive. Two days later, Pete Golding was hired as his replacement, and basketball had to fight for attention.
Against that backdrop, the Rebels hosted Miami (KenPom No. 38) and came out flat in the first half. They couldn’t claw back in the second.
Then came another missed opportunity at Madison Square Garden, where Ole Miss fell 63-58 to St. John’s (KenPom No. 20) in a game that was there for the taking.
With the football team making a College Football Playoff run, fan focus shifted even further. Wins over Southern Miss and Alabama A&M barely registered. Then came a big win over Tulane in Oxford - the first round of the CFP - but less than 24 hours later, the Rebels were back on the court and got run out of the gym by NC State (KenPom No. 24) in Greensboro.
It’s not hard to understand why fans started checking out. In today’s game, with so many new faces on the roster, it takes wins - and consistency - to keep people engaged. Add in the holidays and a Sugar Bowl showdown with Georgia, and basketball was understandably on the back burner.
SEC play began with a road trip to Oklahoma, where a brutal four-minute stretch late in the game turned a winnable contest into a loss. Then came a home game against Arkansas, where the Rebels battled but fell short again.
But after that, something clicked. Ole Miss rattled off three straight conference wins and started to build some momentum.
The Pavilion was rocking when Auburn came to town on January 20. But despite the energy, the Rebels couldn’t close the deal and fell by 12.
Then came last weekend’s trip to Kentucky - a game that was moved up due to Winter Storm Fern. The Rebels were right there until the final minutes, but a pair of late offensive rebounds by the Wildcats proved costly.
Another close call, another missed chance. That loss dropped Ole Miss to 3-4 in the SEC and sent them back to Oxford, where Fern had left the city paralyzed.
No power. Ice everywhere.
School shut down through at least February 8.
That forced Saturday’s home game against Vanderbilt (KenPom No. 12) to be moved to Nashville, turning it into the start of a four-game SEC road trip. Not exactly ideal for a team trying to find its footing.
At 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the league, Ole Miss is still searching for a breakthrough. And the road ahead doesn’t get easier. After Vanderbilt, the Rebels head to Tennessee and Texas - two more top-40 KenPom teams - in what could be a defining stretch for their season.
No one’s going to feel bad for a basketball team dealing with a winter storm. But the reality is, this group has had more than its fair share of adversity.
And if they want to make a late push toward the NCAA Tournament bubble - they’re currently No. 73 in KenPom and No. 83 in the NET - they’ll need to start stacking quality wins. Fast.
The good news? After this road swing, six of their final eight regular season games are at home. That’s a real opportunity - if they can get there with some momentum.
But first, they’ll have to get through Nashville, where Vanderbilt is playing some of its best basketball. The Commodores (18-3, 5-3 SEC) have a résumé that includes wins over UCF, VCU, Saint Mary’s, SMU, Memphis, and Wake Forest.
They just blew out Kentucky by 25 at home. Offensively, they’re dangerous - four players average double figures, led by guard Tyler Tanner at 17.5 points per game.
Devin McGlockton controls the glass with seven boards a night, and Tyler Nickel is a flamethrower from deep, shooting 45.8% from three with 71 makes - tops in the SEC.
In a league where nothing comes easy, Ole Miss has no choice but to fight for every inch. The luck hasn’t been there. But if the Rebels want to change the narrative, this road trip is where it has to start.