Where Does Ole Miss Land in NCAA Tournament Projections Following Win Over Texas?

The Ole Miss Rebels are still squarely in the NCAA Tournament field after taking down the Texas Longhorns on Wednesday.

Jan 29, 2025; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels guard Matthew Murrell (11) drives to the basket as Texas Longhorns forward Ze'Rik Onyema (21) defends during the second half at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball secured a much-needed win on Wednesday night, taking down the Texas Longhorns 72-69 at the SJB Pavilion in Oxford. With another SEC game in the rearview mirror, how did the result affect the Rebels' standing in NCAA Tournament projections?

According to the latest bracketology update released by Joe Lunardi, the Rebels are still projected to be a 6 seed in the Midwest Region (Indianapolis), taking on 11-seed UC Irvine in the opening round. If Ole Miss could advance past the Anteaters, they would face the winner of a game between 3-seed Purdue and 14-seed Cleveland State.

Purdue would be a familiar opponent for the Rebels as Ole Miss dropped a two-point game to the Boilermakers on Black Friday this season as part of the Rady Children's Invitational in San Diego.

Across all of Lunardi's projections, the Rebels are one of 13 SEC teams to make the cut for the field, including Texas and Oklahoma who received one of the "last four byes" in Friday's installment of bracketology.

Ole Miss has a golden opportunity to improve its resume on Saturday when it plays host to the No. 1 Auburn Tigers in a continuation of SEC play. Perhaps the win over Texas can provide the Rebels with some positive momentum entering this matchup against one of the nation's top teams, but head coach Chris Beard is simply focused on taking things one game at a time.

“This is an 18-round fight. I don’t know much about momentum," Beard said postgame on Wednesday. "We’re just trying to put ourselves in a position to have some good practices and give the guys the best possible game plan we can, be prepared and confident to try and play our best on game night. I've always thought it was kind of too early for that too.

"Personally, I've always thought you get through the first round of conference play, and then you kind of see where you're at. What's it going to take to win the league?"

Tip-off between Ole Miss and Auburn is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN.