New AP poll: Ole Miss slides to No. 20 after first conference loss

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of hitting refresh on a Monday morning waiting for the results of the latest college basketball poll.

But such is the life of a relevant college basketball program’s premier blogging site — THE Red Cup Rebellion.

The Ole Miss Rebels took a slight slide in the latest Associated Press poll landing at No. 20 after seeing a debut at No. 18 last week.

A 1-1 week including a loss to the now No. 25 LSU Tigers at home was most likely to blame for the new ranking.

First year head coach Kermit Davis has clearly bested very low expectations for this team, which was picked last in the SEC in the preseason. The Rebels have posted a 14-3 (4-1 SEC) record thus far with games against No. 1 Tennessee, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 16 Auburn, No. 22 Mississippi State and No. 24 Iowa State looming.

Four of those five future top 25 games are in Oxford with enormous implications into conference title and postseason hopes for Ole Miss.

These are the kinds of games athletic director Ross Bjork most likely envisioned when he hired veteran Coach Davis into the program that went 12-20 last year. It’s just unlikely anyone outside of the program thought it would happen this quickly.

The Rebels are currently tied for third in the SEC with No. 8 Kentucky and South Carolina at 4-1, while No. 1 Tennessee sports a spotless 5-0 conference record.

Alabama (11-6, 2-3 SEC) will host Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU and the Rebels will then head back home for a game against Iowa State Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.