Ole Miss basketball 2021-2022: It’s the hope that kills

Last season, in a COVID condensed season, the Ole Miss Rebels got off to a sickeningly rough start to conference play dropping three straight and sitting at a 6-6 record. The chance at March Madness was all but gone.

Until..

The Rebels rattled off wins against, Auburn, #10 Tennessee, #10 Missouri, #24 Missouri, Kentucky and taking their first game of the SEC Tourney against South Carolina. They forced their way onto the bubble scene with some super quality wins, only to be denied and banished to the NIT.

Allow me to present this quote from the greatest motivational speaker in American History:

I’ve been hearing this phrase y’all got over here that I ain’t too crazy about. “It’s the hope that kills you.” Y’all know that? I disagree, you know? I think it’s the lack of hope that comes and gets you. See, I believe in hope. I believe in belief. Now, where I’m from, we got a saying too. A question, actually. “Do you believe in miracles?” - Theodore “Ted” Lasso

As endearing as Ted Lasso is, he clearly is not an Ole Miss Rebels fan. It is, in fact, that hope that kills us.

Here we are again, watching this season unfold with bad losses and an offense stuck in the mud, with an understanding that, like most seasons, this one will end in disappointment watching a first round NIT exit.

Until...

Matthew Murrell explodes and single handedly reminds Mississippi State of their place in the state hierarchy. Daeshun Ruffin shows glimpses that he is the point guard this team needs.

A Quad 1 win against their bitter rivals. A Quad 1, OT loss on the road against a team that will be an 8 seed or better in the National Tourney.

And there it is. That glimmer, ever so faint, sliver of hope provided by this team. The maddening roller coaster ride that will make you tune in when you feel like you already know how this is going to go.

Stick with us as we ride together on the emotional roller coaster known as Ole Miss Basketball.