Ole Miss Has Channeled Its Inner 'Ted Lasso' At SEC Tourney, Just Two Wins Away From Historic NCAA Bid

NASHVILLE — The noise around Ole Miss coach Chris Beard was loud when he and his players arrived in the Music City, but college basketball fans are certainly keeping an eye on the SEC Tournament now that the Rebels are playing for a spot in the championship game. 

In what seemed unthinkable just days ago — especially after losing 12 of their final 13 regular-season games — Ole Miss has already made history in Nashville as the lowest seed (15) to ever reach the SEC Tournament semifinals.

And it’s how the Rebels have done it over the past three days that makes the run even more impressive. Winning is one thing. Not trailing for a single minute across three games is something entirely different.

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On Friday night, Alabama became the latest victim of Ole Miss’ surge, as the Crimson Tide’s final shot was blocked in front of a stunned crowd inside Bridgestone Arena. 

To be clear, Ole Miss has no path to the NCAA Tournament unless it wins the whole thing in Nashville. That’s the only option left, as the movie Major League famously reminded us. 

I certainly didn’t expect Chris Beard to have his team playing in the semifinals, based on what we saw during the regular season. 

But sometimes a group finds something at just the right time, in just the right place. For Ole Miss, that just so happened to be during a ‘win or go home’ situation that would also potentially be the final time this group took the court together. 

Is this group tired and worn down after a long regular season, now playing its fourth game in four days? I mean, sure. But coach Chris Beard isn't going to act as if these players haven't done this before. 

"I don't believe in that. These players, they're not 29, 30, 31 years old. They grew up playing in the summer, sometimes three games a day on the AAU circuit," Beard said Friday. "All of them in their respective basketball journeys played pickup basketball seven days a week for hours and hours and hours. I know that was true for me, Conflans Park and Northwest Rec in Irving, Texas.

"There are no excuses here."

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In reality, the pressure is off. These Rebels just want to play one more game together before the season comes to an end. Well, the past three wins have come against Texas, Georgia, and now Alabama, with a game against No. 3 seeded Arkansas coming later this afternoon. 

"We're just trying to play our basketball. We could be the 1 seed or the 15 seed. We're just playing Ole Miss basketball, trying to stay hot in March," Patton Pinkons said postgame. "The coaches have done a great job. These players haven't given up. We've not quit. We're going to dog it out till then."

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If you looked toward the student section behind the basket, you might have noticed only a handful of Ole Miss fans who made the trip to Nashville during spring break. Sure, tickets were only $10 per game, but that alone tells you what many people thought of the Rebels’ chances this week.

During his postgame press conference, Beard made sure to thank the students who did make the trip — and even invited them to visit once they returned to campus.

"I think we have a lot of good fans that travel with us, too. We're super appreciative. Came to my attention today we have six Ole Miss students that came to Nashville instead of spring break," Beard said about the small group. "They've been at every game and stuff. Shout-out to those six students. I want to invite you to come by the office when classes resume and Mark Adams is going to take you out to eat."

I can almost assure you that there will be plenty of Ole Miss fans in the stands for their semifinal game on Saturday. It also helps that Kentucky and Tennessee have been eliminated, with ticket prices hovering around $40 to get inside Bridgestone Arena. 

There's also the nightly trip to ‘Halls Chophouse’ in Nashville following each win, which they made sure to keep going on Friday night, even if it was 10:00 p.m. CT when they arrived. 

This run could end later today, with the Rebels heading back to Oxford for one final team meeting before preparations for next season begin.

Or they could continue shocking college basketball fans and play for an SEC Tournament title on Sunday afternoon, with a shot at earning an NCAA bid the hard way. 

They call it March Madness for a reason.

There’s something about the word hope and the month of March. As Ted Lasso once said, "I think it's the lack of hope that comes and gets you."

Well, when Ole Miss arrived in Nashville, the Rebels chose to be goldfish — forgetting the past and focusing only on the moment in front of them.

Oh, and they certainly ‘Believe’.