You’ve read it here before but it bears repeating; college football (as we know and love it) is over. Sure, there’ll still be football games played on or near college campuses by players who occasionally show up on or near college campuses, but what happens beyond that is anyone’s guess. I believe the sport will undergo a Great Restructuring sometime in the next five years with potentially both Mississippi State and Ole Miss left behind.
But who cares about football, anyway, when Mississippi has become a hotbed of college basketball? As the fields were announced for both the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournament Sunday night, you couldn’t help but notice a startling connection; both Mississippi State and Ole Miss’ men’s and women’s teams were in. Not “First Four, thanks for playing,” in, but, “actually seeded, here’s a tipoff time, location and opponent” in.
In the 42 years since the NCAA began hosting a men’s and women’s tournament, that’s never happened. The fun begins Friday when No. 8 seed MSU faces Baylor in Raleigh, North Carolina, continues when No. 6 seed Ole Miss hosts the winner of San Diego St. and North Carolina in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and spills over to Saturday when the No. 9 seed MSU women face California in Los Angeles and the No. 5 seed Rebels face Ball St. in Waco, Texas. Regardless of outcomes, this weekend will be the culmination of the most successful college basketball season in the Magnolia State in my lifetime, if not ever. Need more proof?
- Mississippi State and Ole Miss have played each other 254 times in men’s basketball since the turn of the 20th century, but the only two times both teams have entered the game ranked inside the Top 25 happened this season.
- MSU’s women’s team shook off last year’s disappointing finish to claim an NCAA Tournament berth for 2025, a feat they last accomplished in 2023.
- Ole Miss’ men’s team is back in the tournament for the first time in seven years and also notched back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time in nearly a decade.
- Ole Miss’ women’s team earned their fourth consecutive tournament berth, a run of success unseen in Oxford since the days of legendary coach Van Chancellor.
- The Rebels’ Madison Scott beat out MSU’s Jerkaila Jordan and Jackson State’s Taleah Dilworth for the Gillom Trophy, given annually to the top women’s basketball player in the state. She’s the third different Ole Miss player in the last five seasons to win the award, and the Rebels have claimed four of five overall (Shakira Austin won it in back-to-back seasons).
- On the men’s side, MSU’s Josh Hubbard claimed the Howell Trophy – his second straight – meaning seven of the past eight winners have been Bulldogs. In fact, the Howell field was so deep this season that my pick for the actual best player in the state – former Columbus Falcon Denijay Harris – wasn’t even a finalist. That’s no slight on Hubbard, a phenomenal talent who averaged almost 19 points per game and is the key to the Bulldogs’ success, but what Harris did on a terrible Southern Miss team is nothing short of astounding.
- – Harris was a walking double-double, averaging 16.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game this season. Harris was one of only 11 Division I players to average double-digits in both points and rebounds. His 17 double-doubles this year (in 32 games played) rank tied for seventh, nationally, just below Auburn’s Johni Broome and Baylor’s Norchad Omer but above Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson. Harris was overlooked by the Howell committee (and whoever votes on the All-Sun Belt team) thanks to the Golden Eagles 11-22 record. But he certainly wasn’t the reason they lost all those games.
As we sit on the precipice of the best sports weekend of the year, don’t worry about football even though spring football is already underway. Don’t even worry about baseball (yet). Keep your attention on basketball, where Mississippi is being represented at the highest level by both teams from both of the state’s two largest universities. Those student-athletes are fine representatives of our state and we should be proud of them, win or lose. Plus, it’s not often we get to benefit from a little positive press. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Philip Poe is sports editor.
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