A recap of the men’s basketball season as told through Ole Miss GIFs

I don’t remember if it was after the first January loss to Georgia or the one that followed two weeks later, but the 2020-21 Ole Miss basketball season’s time of death occurred during the first month of the new year. After Georgia Loss No. 1, Ole Miss fell to 6-6 overall (1-4 SEC) and then to 8-8 (3-6) with Georgia Loss No. 2, while looking like a team going nowhere.

Then February started. Turns out, they were not quite dead and actually feeling better!

Wednesday night’s win over Missouri marked their third straight win, and second win in three games over a top 15 team at home. With those wins, Ole Miss now has two quality wins, which makes them eligible for that Casual Bubble Talk Life.

Obviously, a lot of work remains to get to that Serious Bubble Talk Life, but no rational thinking person in January thought this team would be 11-8 (6-6) as the middle of February approaches. A tip of the wool hat (ARCTIC COLD FRONT, YOU ARE THE WORST) to the players and coaches for that turnaround.

To recap the emotional #WAOM ride that got the team to this point, we turn to the internet dot com and the heroes who took the time to make Ole Miss-related GIFs. I’ve broken up the season into segments, which are based on momentum, calamities, and NEVER A DOUBT.

Will we ever lose?

After a 4-0 start, Ole Miss looked like an elite defense team that was a work in progress on offense but would eventually find its scoring ability. Did it matter that none of those four wins were against even average teams?

Nope. 4-0 is 4-0, baby!

The first loss

While disappointing, nothing wrong with losing a close game at Dayton. Not an issue!

The first two-game losing streak

After a win over UT-Martin, Ole Miss closed out 2020 with a blowout loss to Alabama and opened 2021 with a close loss to Wichita State at home.

Auburn win

Obvs.

Three-game losing streak, ending with Georgia Loss No. 1

Engage first emotional checkout of the season.

A two-game win streak to make us think MAYBE?

Not just wins, but two double-digit wins over Mississippi State and Texas A&M.

Two more losses, ending with Georgia Loss No. 2

Engage emotional checkout number two.

Upset win over No. 11 Tennessee

Well, hello there.

Yet another win over Auburn

Obvs redux.

BUBBLE LIFE BACK

Engage emotional re-engage. Who knows what happens the rest of the way, but it feels good to be invested again (surely this will sustain itself!) and cutting the brake lines on the bubble talk hype train.