For the first of two meetings, Ole Miss and Mississippi State will meet on the hardwood for an epic battle to determine the best program in the Sip. Tuesday night in Oxford, Mississippi has the potential to be one of the biggest basketball games in the history of basketball of either program. Ole Miss, undefeated at home, and Mississippi State, fresh off two wins over top-ten Southeastern Conference, set the scene for a magical environment on Tuesday night.

More or less, Tuesday night will be a celebration of just how far this state has come in basketball in two seasons under their respective coaches. Chris Jans at Mississippi State has been in Starkville for two seasons, while Chris Beard took over in March of 2023 of the Ole Miss Basketball program.

Tuesday night is the opportunity of a lifetime to showcase to the world just how far basketball has come in Mississippi. Similar to what happened in Alabama when Nate Oats and Bruce Pearl took over as Head Coaches at Alabama and Auburn, the hires woke a sleeping giant in basketball powers. Every game between the two now has a feel only Final Four-caliber teams bring to the table.

For years, Mississippi has been known as a football and baseball state, with basketball taking a backseat to both sports. However, Tuesday night changes for both programs as they turn the page to an exciting night of basketball in Oxford, Mississippi. College basketball fans from across the country will tune in to the SEC Network at 7:30 for the matchup that will give the other a leg up heading into the final eleven Southeastern Conference games remaining heading into the Conference Tournament during the second weekend of March. Ole Miss and Mississippi State will meet again on Wednesday night, the 21st of February, with an opportunity for one of the programs to complete the season sweep of the other.

From a matchup standpoint, Ole Miss is undefeated at home, but Mississippi State has Josh Hubbard, Tolu Smith, and Trey Fort to lead the Bulldogs to victory over Ole Miss on Tuesday night. Ole Miss has Club Red, giving the Rebels a unique homecourt advantage in Southeastern Conference play. Coming into the game on Tuesday night, the feeling is that Ole Miss and Mississippi State will split the regular season before an eventual rematch in the 2024 Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.