The Final AP Top-25 Poll: Where the Ole Miss Basketball Program Landed in Final Poll

The Ole Miss Rebels had a season for the storybooks after continuing to set a new standard in Oxford under head coach Chris Beard.

Just two seasons into Beard's coaching tenure, the Rebels returned to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 24 years, landing them inside the final AP Top 25 Poll at No. 18.

The Rebels find themselves in this spot despite a rollercoaster season.

Ole Miss entered conference play with just two losses to Memphis and Purdue, but finished at 10-8 in conference play, giving them a final record of 21-10 in the regular season.

Even with a conference record over .500 being impressive to the selection committee, wins over No.4 Alabama, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 14 Kentucky in just the conference alone.

The Rebels overall finished with 10 Quad 1 wins, and five Quad 2 wins. The victories included defeating three non-conference teams to make the tournament in Louisville, BYU and Colorado State.

The regular season included a buzzer-beater win over Arkansas and a two-possession loss to Auburn which led Ole Miss to being named a six-seed in the NCAA Tournament.

In this spot they took on UNC, who won a play-in game to gain the No. 11 seed, where UNC was favorited. Despite this, Ole Miss took away a 71-64 win.

This led to a matchup with No. 3-seeded Iowa State, where once again the Rebels were not favorites to win, and again

The Rebels came away with the win after securing a spot in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2001.

In the Sweet Sixteen Ole Miss stared down the historic Michigan State Spartans and Tom Izzo.

This back and forth affair led to the Spartans coming away with the win; pulling away in the final seconds, and ending the Rebels season.

Despite the loss, Ole Miss fans were proud and thankful across social media being grateful for the impressive 2024-25 campaign.

The Rebels did not take any time off, after instantly hopping into the transfer portal and addressing a much-needed area in rebounding.

Ole Miss recently landed Corey Chest, a transfer from LSU. The redshirt-freshman is known for being a glass cleaner after recording 12 rebounds against Ole Miss last season.

Ole Miss needs to continue to rebuild their talent core as they lost a majority of their starters and a few key pieces off the bench.

The Final AP Top-25 Poll:

1. Florida
2. Houston
3. Duke
4. Auburn
5. Tennessee
6. Alabama
7. Michigan State
8. Texas Tech
9. Maryland
10. Michigan
11. St. John's
12. Kentucky
13. BYU
14. Purdue
15. Arizona
16. Wisconsin
17. Iowa State
18. Ole Miss
19. Texas A&M
20. Arkansas
21. Louisville
22. Clemson
23. Gonzaga
24. Saint Mary's
25. Memphis

Others receiving votes: Drake 122, Oregon 105, Illinois 80, UConn 76, Creighton 60, Colorado St. 49, UCLA 36, McNeese St. 17, Missouri 16, New Mexico 10, UC San Diego 6, Kansas 5, Marquette 2.

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