Fresh off another Southeastern Conference victory to improve to 3-0 in league play and 14-2 overall, Coach Chris Beard has his Ole Miss Rebels off to one of the best starts in program history, all of which in year two as Head Coach. Sure, there’s one bad loss on the resume to Memphis, but the Rebels have turned the corner and seemingly have started to play their best ball as they await a massive week with two road games against Alabama on Tuesday and Mississippi State on Saturday night.

For many, the word culture comes as a catchy catchphrase used to sell tickets, but for Coach Beard and his program, the word culture is personal. Culture goes beyond what happens on the court; the culture goes beyond that; it’s in the everyday grind, how the team faces adversity, and how they win and lose.

For generations, Ole Miss Basketball has been an afterthought, a program where the conference’s top came into Oxford and left with a relatively easy win. However, since Coach Beard brought a different style to Oxford, the Ole Miss Rebels are on a roll; at 14-2 and 3-0 in the conference, the Ole Miss Rebels are in the perfect position to have a magical conference run, the type of run that could leave lasting impacts on the program for generations to come. There are a lot of teams that would have thrown in the towel after losing to a rival by 17 points, but not the Rebels; they’ve stayed the course and now have an unreal opportunity in front of them to win two massive games on the road that could the season to the next level, from competing for a bye to being placed in conversation to earn the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.

There’s something different about the program under Coach Beard’s and his staff’s leadership; the program has never seen a culture where winning on and off the court is the standard. There’s not an easy night in a conference as tough as the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss will face an unreal amount of adversity this week when they travel into two of the toughest gyms in the conference. Still, Ole Miss has been there before; they learned what not to do in a loss to Memphis and will look to continue their winning ways starting on Tuesday night at Coleman Coliseum against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Who knows where Ole Miss’s season will go, but the Rebels are having fun playing basketball. The community of Oxford and all of Rebel Nation have rallied around this team as they embark on the grind of the Southeastern Conference. One thing is for sure, though: the culture combined with the talent on the roster makes the future of Rebels Basketball brighter than ever before.

Photo Credits- Ole Miss Basketball on X