The Early Prediction: Ole Miss Basketball vs. Michigan State Spartans in Sweet 16

No. 6 seed Ole Miss will take on Tom Izzo and the No. 2 seeded Michigan State Spartans on Friday in the Sweet 16 with a trip to the Elight 8 on the line in Atlanta (Ga.).

Chris Beard and the Rebels remain one of the hottest programs in America after back-to-back impressive victories over North Carolina and Iowa State to open NCAA Tournament play.

The opportunity to continue coaching one of the most competitive rosters Beard has had during his career is a piece he's detailed since tourney play.

"I think, above all, I'm very competitive. And I think, above all, I don't try to think of words. I don't really care about people's feelings that I have a relationship with," Beard said on Sunday.

"So with the players, kind of a direct teaching. So, yeah, these players have allowed me to do that, just like as a coaching staff we have tried to reach the guys in the best way we can reach them. Some of these guys need that. They need the hard, direct message. Some of these guys need poise and confidence in moments."

Preview: No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels vs. No. 2 Michigan State Spartans

The Start Time and How to Watch:

Start Time: 6:09 p.m. CT on Friday, March 28
Channel: CBS
Location: Atlanta (Ga.)

The Current Betting Lines: Ole Miss Rebels vs. Michigan State Spartans

(Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook)

Spread:
- Ole Miss: (+2.5)
- Michigan State: (-2.5)

Moneyline:
- Ole Miss: (+150)
- Michigan State: (-180)

Over/Under: 144.5 (-110)

The Ole Miss Rebels will enter the clash in Atlanta as 2.5-point underdogs with Vegas favoring Tom Izzo's crew following an impressive Round of 32 victory over the New Mexico Lobos.

The Early Prediction: ESPN's BPI Makes the Call

ESPN BPI Predictor: Michigan State
ESPN BPI Predicted Point Differential: 3.5
ESPN BPI Win Probability (Iowa State): 64.5%
ESPN BPI Win Probability (Ole Miss): 35.5%

What is the ESPN Basketball Power Index?

"The College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is," according to ESPN.

"Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team's W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day's rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily."

Chris Beard's Take: Playing Together Paving the Way

"A key to the game tonight was we get five guys in double-figure scoring. We take care of the basketball, and we were committed to the defensive end for most of the game.

"You mentioned Sean Pedulla. We have several players on our team that are fearless guys. They all have the courage to take that shot, make that play on defense.

"One of our challenges this year has been, when this journey started, making sure that each individual player could be the best version of themselves, but also let's work this as a too many.

"So we spent time this summer watching the USA Basketball documentary trying to demonstrate how their team was a bunch of talented guys that came together with one purpose. Our team is a bunch of talented guys that come together with one purpose. Certainly not saying that we are USA Basketball talented, but there are a lot of parallels.

"I think that's one of the stories of our team, is all these guys, they check their egos at the door when they arrived at Oxford, and they're playing for each other."

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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.