It’s hard to know exactly when a team is officially out of the running for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. But wherever that line is, Ole Miss men’s basketball is close to it.
Technically, no school is out of the running until its eliminated from its conference tournament since winning that automatic qualifies a team for the big dance. That doesn’t happen very often, which is why the Rebels are close to the point of no return.
Ole Miss is currently on a four-game losing streak, three of which were road games while Oxford recovered from Winter Storm Fern.
In all of those games, though, the Rebels never scored more than 68 points and shooting just 37.8% from the field. This season, Ole Miss has just one win in which it didn’t score at least 70 points and that was a one-point win against Mississippi State that required the Bulldogs to miss free throws and a layup in the final minute.
More concerning, though, is the Rebels losing the rebounding battles. Through the four losses, Ole Miss has been outrebounded 161-125.
While it doesn’t show up in their record, the Rebels haven’t played terribly in this losing streak. The lack of effort woes that plagued them aren’t showing up and they’re competitive in the games until late in the second half.
Ole Miss has fewer turnovers than its opponents in the last four games (40-36) and are making a higher percentage of three-pointers (33.7% to 27%). Also, opponents are shooting red hot with just a 42% average on field goals.
Storr spins in the lane🌪️#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/aWRvxbnyTW
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 4, 2026
It’s a frustrating series of results and statistics and some of that frustration may have come out in the Rebels’ last game against Tennessee.
Midway through the fourth quarter, officials didn’t call an offensive foul on the Volunteers and coach Chris Beard did and said enough to quickly get tossed from the game.
Chris Beard is all of us pic.twitter.com/HzIUsP8Bft
— Everything Ole Miss (@EverythingRebs) February 4, 2026
“The free-throw differential in this game and the foul differential in this game. Just frustrating from a coaching standpoint and a playing standpoint,” Beard said after the loss to Tennessee. “It’s never personal. These are the best officials in college basketball. I can say things like that because I’ve been at all different levels. I know what average officials look like. I know what poor officials look like. These are the best.
“But on tonight’s game, you know, the free-throw differential, the fouls called free-throw differential. At some point as a coach, you have to fight for your players, and that’s exactly what happened tonight.”
Hopefully, that fight carries over into the Rebels’ next game, which will be the fourth-straight road game.
Ole Miss is set to face Texas (14-9, 5-5 SEC) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Austin.
