Kennedy’s Rebels head to Nashville with hopes of securing NCAA Invite

Goodbye Oxford.

Ole Miss is 3-0 on neutral sites. That same team is 8-4 on the road. At home, just 5-4 in SEC play and 9-7 overall.

The 2015 Rebels, (20-11) will travel to Nashville for the SEC Tournament this week, playing the late game on Thursday against either South Carolina or Missouri. A resume with 21 wins should bolster the seeding for Ole Miss when Selection Sunday comes around.

“We’ve never been mentioned as a bubble team nor were we mentioned as a tournament team by any media at the beginning of the season,” Andy Kennedy said. “Not one, Not one in the nation that said the Ole Miss Rebels could be an NCAA Tournament Team.”

He’s right. Few if any gave Ole Miss to be in this position come March. All Kennedy has done is taken another Ole Miss squad to 20 wins in just his ninth season. Ole Miss has had seven 20 win seasons under Kennedy. He is also the third winning-est coach in SEC History in his first nine years. Only Billy Donovan (Florida) and Joe Hall (Kentucky) had more.

Prior to Kennedy arriving at Ole Miss, the basketball squad had achieved seven 20 win seasons in 96 years. Kennedy has seven in just nine.

About the Author

Carver Rayburn Carver Rayburn was born and raised an Ole Miss Rebel in Oxford, Mississippi. He has worked for many newspapers and magazines in both editorial and advertising, including OffBeat Magazine, The Hattiesburg American, The Meridian Star, The Neshoba Democrat, The Madison County Journal, The Clarke County Tribune, The New Albany Gazette, Southeastern Football Saturdays, and Rebel Yell. He currently lives in New Orleans and has a four-year-old son, Hart. You can contact Carver at carverrayburn@hotmail.com.