SEC: Is Ole Miss Going To Shock Us All In The 2015 NCAA Tournament?

On Thursday night, the Ole Miss Rebels played against the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Ole Miss could’ve laid an egg white so big that it would’ve knocked them out of the 2015 NCAA tournament, but they didn’t, Ole Miss did the complete opposite.

Instead of getting their first bad loss of the season and experiencing the pain of missing out the 2015 NCAA tournament, Ole Miss left the Egg Bowl defeating their rival 71-65 and left Starkville, Miss., with a big win.

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Ole Miss should start preparing their travel arrangements for March.

All season long their team hasn’t look flustered, nervous, or scared and it’s because of that poise and composure that they are going to make the 2015 NCAA tournament.

Could Ole Miss team shock a lot of teams in the 2015 NCAA tournament? Each and every week it’s been starting to look that way.

The Coach

At this point in the season it could be said that Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy is one of the best in the SEC.

Coach Kennedy has Ole Miss learning and getting better as the season progresses. One of the reasons why Ole Miss has been successful this season is because of their commitment to the defensive end of the floor.

Feb 4, 2015; Oxford, MS, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Andy Kennedy during the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at C.M.Tad Smith Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

On paper when a person looks at the defensive stats of Ole Miss, there isn’t much that will jump out. The game isn’t played on paper, though.

For example against Mississippi State, Ole Miss’ Stefan Moody took a shot on the right elbow that landed in the corner of the floor and Mississippi State’s Craig Sword got the rebound.

Standing near Sword was two of Ole Miss players, M.J. Rhett and Ladarius White. Instead of the two retreating to play defense in the half court, the two wisely decided to trap the basketball at the corner.

There was no escape for Sword and his only resort was to throw the basketball on one of the players and to inbound the ball. The two stopped a fast break, and that’s one of the small details that Ole Miss does every game that causes them to claim victory.

In addition to playing smart defense, Ole Miss also got aggressive. Ole Miss forced them into 13 turnovers and Mississippi State only 26.3 percent from the three-point line.

Due to the fact that Ole Miss has played great defense this season is one of the reasons why they are going to receive an at-large bid.

The overall Ole Miss team might be relatively small (boasting only one player that’s 6’10”), compared to the other teams in the SEC, but what they lack in size they make up for in effort.

The effort that coach Kennedy has his team playing with is why they are one of the scrappier teams in the SEC. Scrappy teams don’t relax.

In an interview with Hugh Kellenberger of The Clarion-Ledger, head coach Andy Kennedy said this:

“My message will ring the same: in order for this team to reach it potential with three weeks left in the regular season, our awareness needs to be better. I just think there are times where mentally we relax and you can’t relax in the battle.”

It’s Not Only Moody

There might not be another player in the SEC that’s more exciting to watch than Stefan Moody.

When March rolls around the corner, Moody is going to create a world of trouble for a bunch of different opponents he faces in the tournament. He’s a very quick guard, and if his jump shot is on, he creates difficulty for any opponent. As Moody played against Mississippi State his jump shot was on and he was virtually unguardable.

Because of his shooting ability, he furiously helped Ole Miss to get victory. In three possessions in a row, Moody launched up a three-pointer from the left wing and kept nailing it. He finished the game with 29 points going 8-for-12 from the three-point line.

Additionally, with the evidence of watching games against Florida, Kentucky, and now Mississippi State, it’s safe to say that Moody’s the type of player that lives for the close games. In fact out of the seven 20 point games that he has this season, five of them come on the road.

But the entire team isn’t just him, there’s also point guard, Jarvis Summers too.

Originally Summers was looked at as one of the SEC Player of the Year contenders at the beginning of the season, and his averages this season don’t warrant that. However, the numbers he’s putting up while playing in a team organized system is one of the reasons why OIe Miss is going to the tournament.

On the season Summers is avearging 12.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game.

As the senior point guard of the team, under his leadership Ole Miss is prepared to compete during their games.

That’s why Ole Miss is a confident bunch when they play against any opponent because Summers and Moody are ready to play on most given nights.

Tourney Ready?

Ole Miss is ready to play in March.

This team is one of the strongest in college basketball and it’s not even close. They defeated No. 19 Arkansas, No.23 Creighton, Cinnicinatti, Oregon, Texas A&M, and they’re the only team that lost to No. 1 Kentucky on the road. All of these teams will have a spot, if not a chance to play in the 2015 NCAA tournament.

They’ve been tournament ready.

The last step for Ole Miss is to stack up a few more wins. They say that 20 is the magic number, so in reality they’re only two games away.

It won’t be easy though getting their last two wins. Ole Miss will have to play two of the most inconsistent teams in the SEC, Alabama, and Tennessee. At any given moment either team erupt for a huge night.

Then their tests will get more challenging facing against two teams that want to also secure their NCAA tournament invites in LSU and Georgia.

The schedule then will end, before the SEC tournament with a layup against Vanderbilt.

This roster has come along way after having difficulty in November and December but their six weeks of hard work during the SEC regular season prepared them for this moment.

Will the last three weeks of their season be some time in late March?

Next: SEC: Don't Hold Your Breath--The Kentucky Wildcats Are Unbeatable

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