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Conference tournament season is in full swing and Ole Miss needs at least one win this week to concretize its spot in the Round of 64. The SEC Tournament is but one of 31 run-ups to the Big Dance, and thus the bidding war over tourney seeds involves that delicate calculus of who beat whom and when and how. The Rebels' tournament fate, then, radiates out to those teams currently projected above and below where they now sit.
As of the Tuesday projections, ESPN's Joe Lunardi and NBC Sports' Dave Ommen both slot the Rebels at a 10-seed playing San Diego State. Christ Dobbertean follows their generosity and likes the Rebs as a 10-seed against Iowa. Jerry Palm at CBS Sports, however, holds Ole Miss back in a play-in game against Indiana for an 11-seed, while USA Today's Shelby Mast slides them into a fight with Texas for the 11 spot.
Taking a step back, here are the five bracketologists' respective seedings on either side of Ole Miss, including the teams similarly seeded from the other regions (BOLD indicates teams that have already locked down a spot in the tournament):
| Other 10-seeds | 9-seeds | 11-seeds | |
| ESPN |
Colorado State
LSU
VCU
|
Xavier
Georgia
NC State
Dayton
|
Boise State
Purdue
Temple/Texas
Oklahoma State
|
| NBC Sports |
Purdue
Oklahoma State
LSU
|
NC State
Oregon
Cincinnati
Georgia
|
Indiana/Temple
Davidson
Colorado State
Boise State
|
| SB Nation |
Davidson
Boise State
Oklahoma State
|
NC State
Ohio State
Oregon
LSU
|
Georgia
Purdue
Colorado State/Texas
Indiana/Temple
|
| Other 11-seeds | 10-seeds | 12-seeds | |
| CBS Sports | [vs. Indiana] Davidson Purdue Boise State |
LSU Georgia Texas Colorado State |
Louisiana Tech Valparaiso Wofford Illinois/Texas A&M |
| USA Today | [vs. Texas] Purdue Boise State Temple |
Georgia Dayton NC State Davidson |
Louisiana Tech/St. Francis Stephen F. Austin Wofford BYU/Indiana |
Some common names begin to appear on the scatter plot, notably Colorado State, Oklahoma State, Boise State, Temple, NC State, Purdue, and Texas. Bear in mind that as the Rebs pick their way through the SECT minefield, these apposite squads are engaged in a parallel shadow dance alongside them.
Which is to say, the ACC, Big 12, B1G, and (randomly) Mountain West tournaments all hold tangential significance for Ole Miss' tournament prospects. In a way, the Rebels ought to actively root against these teams, especially in the event of a Thursday loss, under the enemy-of-my-enemy logic.
In an even more cutthroat move, here are each bracketologist's detested last-four-in and first-four-out considerations (or in the case of Dave Ommen, the last and first five):
| ESPN | CBS Sports | USA Today | NBC Sports | SB Nation | |
| Last Four In | BYU Temple Texas Indiana |
Indiana Ole Miss Illinois Texas A&M |
Temple Purdue Texas A&M Texas |
Colorado State Indiana BYU Temple Texas |
Colorado State Indiana Temple Texas |
| First Four Out | Miami (FL) Old Dominion Tulsa Texas A&M |
BYU Tulsa Temple Miami (FL) |
Tulsa BYU UCLA Old Dominion |
Texas A&M Miami (FL) Illinois Tulsa Old Dominion |
Texas A&M Miami UCLA Old Dominion |
Here again Texas, Temple, and Colorado State loom, and it's remarkable that Ole Miss only appears as a last-four-in squad for Jerry Palm. Damn you, Jerry. In any case, these are the teams that the Rebel faithful should really hate over the next four days, since Andy Kennedy's traveling band is now inextricably bound up with them until Selection Sunday.
Put your hatin' hats on, people. It's gonna be a helluva week.