The Rebels take on Georgia in a must-win matchup

The Rebels host THE Bulldogs of the SEC at 2:30 CT today in an absolute must-win game for Ole Miss to keep its NCAA hopes alive.

Most brackets still have Ole Miss in the 8/9 range, but that almost certainly assumes a win today. UGA’s NET ranking is 118, so a loss at home to the Bulldogs would pretty much wreck everything.

But... that’s not likely. When these two teams met in Athens, the Rebels won by 16 points on the back of Breein Tyree’s 31. Georgia never really got anything going, though the Bulldogs did hit 44% of their threes. The 20 turnovers the Rebels forced simply doomed UGA, as did Nicolas Claxton (who is averaging 13 points and nine rebounds per game) only generating eight points and three rebounds in that one.

Certainly, this UGA team isn’t exactly the same as they were two weeks ago, but that team simply seemed significantly outmatched and outcoached. I said then that there was little chance for UGA to win, and I think it’s even less likely in Oxford. UGA is coming off an extremely close home loss 68-67 to Mississippi State that was marred by a technical foul call when a fan threw a stuffed animal on the court.

The loss had to be frustrating for a Bulldog team that has lost 11 straight SEC contests. Of course, having said all of that, the Bulldogs will win by 50.

How to watch

Where: Oxford

When: 2:30 p.m. CT

TV: SEC Network

Online streaming: WatchESPN

Tale of the Tape