Ole Miss Basketball felt undervalued and profoundly overlooked as they traveled to Coleman Coliseum to take on the mighty Alabama Crimson Tide in a massive Southeastern Conference tilt with outright championship implications. Ole Miss came into the game with Alabama as the 21st-ranked team in both polls, looking for the most significant road win in program history over the 4th-ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama to remain unbeaten in SEC play.

Ole Miss didn’t just beat the Alabama Crimson Tide. They dominated them, and beating them by ten at their place is almost unheard of in Alabama’s Head Coach Nate Oats era. Yet, here comes Chris Beard’s Ole Miss team into the mouth of the beast on Tuesday night, giving Rebel Nation hope for the basketball team that has never seen the light of day. With Mississippi State on the horizon and Texas A&M at home next Wednesday, Ole Miss could be sitting at nine and zero in the Southeastern Conference, with the Auburn Tigers coming to town on the first of next month, creating the biggest game in Ole Miss Basketball history.

All of that because the leadership of Keith Carter believed in the vision of one man, a man who he took a shot on and, in just two seasons, has brought Ole Miss Basketball to the conversation of being talked about as a legitimate contender to reach the Final Four for the first time in school history. There have been plenty of exciting Ole Miss Basketball teams, but none have reached the levels of what the 2024-2025 Rebels Basketball teams have done to this point in the season. There’s a lot of basketball left in the season, but one can’t sit there and deny that Coach Chris Beard and his Ole Miss Rebels sent a loud and clear message to the rest of the college basketball world on Tuesday night with that resounding win over Alabama.

Like anything, Ole Miss will face adversity this season; a loss or two will come, but what Coach Beard has built so far in a season and a half is nothing short of a miracle and likely deserves Coach Of The Year honors in the Southeastern Conference and on the national spectrum as well. Yet, the Rebels aren’t satisfied with a few conference wins; the overall bigger picture is one where the culture travels, and championships are the standard to follow for Ole Miss Basketball.

Coach Beard has his team in the mindset that it’s them against the world; Saturday is another opportunity to prove the validity of Ole Miss Basketball once again as they face the Southeastern Conference slate head-on. There’s a lot of talent on the roster, combined with one of the best basketball minds and a well-assembled staff, and Ole Miss has the pieces to continue the momentum into the rest of the season, potentially earning a trip to the Final Four in April.