36. USC Trojans

37. Grand Canyon Lopes

38. Providence Friars

39. Mississippi State Bulldogs

40. Rutgers Scarlet Knights

41. Memphis Tigers

42. McNeese Cowboys

43. Michigan State Spartans

44. Michigan Wolverines

45. VCU Rams

46. Dayton Flyers

47. St Mary’s Gaels

48. Washington Huskies

49. UCF Knights

50. Louisville Cardinals

51. Boise State Broncos

52. Clemson Tigers

53. New Mexico Lobos

54. Arizona State Sun Devils

55. Utah State Aggies

56. Colorado State Rams

57. Seton Hall Pirates

58. SMU Mustangs

59. South Carolina Gamecocks

60. Nevada Wolfpack

61. TCU Horned Frogs

62. Villanova Wildcats

63. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

64. Saint Louis Billikens

65. Syracuse Orange

66. Nebraska Cornhuskers

67. Pittsburgh Panthers

68. Iowa Hawkeyes

69. NC State Wolfpack

70. Butler Bulldogs

71. Princeton Tigers

72. Virginia Cavaliers

73. Saint Joseph’s Hawks

74. Oklahoma Sooners

75. West Virginia Mountaineers

76. Georgia Bulldogs

77. UAB Blazers

78: Wisconsin Badgers

79. San Diego State Aztecs

80. Missouri Tigers

81. Northwestern Wildcats

82. Loyola Chicago Ramblers

Here’s where each of our analysts have the Rebels ranked:

Steven	Maxwell	Kam	Cody
19	35	51	26

The Rebels are returning three starters from last year’s team 20 win team. Despite missing the NCAA tournament, it was a successful first season under head coach, Chris Beard. Last year’s Rebels team was the worst team defensively that Beard ever coached. That should be greatly improved. This Ole Miss team returns four rotation players from last season, including three starters. The starting backcourt will consist of last year’s leading scorer, senior Matthew Murrell. Additionally, senior Jaylen Murray will be the starting point guard. The third returning player is Jaemyn Brakefield, another senior. In total, this Ole Miss roster has eight seniors and ten upperclassmen.

The remaining two starters are likely to be Dre Davis, previously of Seton Hall, and Malik Dia from Belmont. Davis led Seton Hall in total points last season, and Dia did the same for Belmont. All five of these starters shot at least 34% from three last season, allowing Ole Miss to play a five-out system on offense. Off the bench is additional shooting, six more upperclassmen, and a four star recruit freshman. Mikeal Brown-Jones led Uncle Greensboro in scoring last season and shot 43% from three last season. Additionally, Davon Barnes led Sam Houston State in scoring last season, while Sean Pedulla did the same for Virginia Tech. See a theme yet? Barnes was also a 39% three point shooter last season while Pedulla shoots 36% for his career. This top eight of the rotation, in addition to returnee, TJ Caldwell, makes this Ole Miss rotation one of the deepest in college basketball. Additionally, there’s 7’2″ 4 star freshman, John Bol.

This is not a traditional Beard-assembled team. Traditionally, Beard’s teams are anchored by an elite defense. However, given this Rebels team has six players who led their programs in scoring last season and can literally all shoot the ball, this is going to be one of the most dynamic offenses in the country. Additionally, given the length this team has on the wing, it should be anticipated that the defense is much improved too. Given the nature of the SEC, this Ole Miss team should finish between 7th and 9th in the conference standings, but that’s by no means an indicted on the team Beard assembled. It’s just the nature of the SEC. This team, as previously stated, will be incredibly deep and incredibly versatile. They can beat you in so many different ways. And they’re experienced. The transfer portal haul, in addition to the returners, allows Beard to mix and match a ton of different lineups, he just needs all the guys who were featured players at their previous schools to buy in to a lesser role at the expense of doing something special. Because that’s exactly what this team can be: special.