Ole Miss plays Mizzou tonight!
I just added that exclamation point to get your attention. Did it work?
Another Ole Miss Basketball game happens tonight.
Try to contain yourself.
Even the Ole Miss Basketball Twitter account is struggling for headlines. Check out this graphic:
GAME DAY
What else can the poor Ole Miss graphic artist write at this point, except, “Yeah, there is a game, and it’s happening today…”?
The Rebels have lost 10 of their last 13 contests, and leading scorer Matt Murrell may or may not play after leaving the Arkansas game with an apparent knee injury of some sort (I never heard a diagnosis) on Saturday.
Mizzou (14-5, 3-4 SEC) isn’t exactly an SEC power, but the Tigers do own wins over then 16th ranked Illinois, then 19th ranked Kentucky, Vanderbilt and then 25th ranked Arkansas and are currently ranked 58 in the NET.
Ole Miss has an NET rank of 104 and a single SEC win over South Carolina. About the only drama left in the season is when and how the head coach will exit. A small office retirement party at the end of the season is probably the way to go if you ask me.
The Rebels are 9-10 (1-6 SEC) and at the bottom of the league.
At this point, if you want drama you have to look for it. For me it’s in the odds. Except for the South Carolina game, fading Ole Miss has worked pretty well lately.
Ole Miss is a 1.5-point favorite, and I’m assuming the odds are such because Mizzou hasn’t won an SEC road game yet this season. In fact, the Tigers have just one road win, an 88-84 overtime victory over Wichita State (10-9) back on November 29. And their SEC losses at Florida, Texas A&M and Arkansas weren’t particularly close.
On the flip-side, the Rebels haven’t won an SEC home game since January 24, 2022. Maybe Vegas thinks Ole Miss is good for a W on the one-year anniversary of its last home conference win.
If Murrell wasn’t hurt I might give Ole Miss the edge at home, too. But even if Murrell plays I doubt he is anywhere close to 100 percent. My guess is Vegas has this one wrong and the Tigers squeak out a win.
Can the Rebels prove Vegas right (and me wrong)? I’ll tune in at 6:00 tonight and find out.
I know you can’t wait.
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