ESPN Analytics projects winner of Texas/Ole Miss SEC Tournament first-round matchup
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
On Feb. 7, Texas used a 14-0 run over the final 3:35 to turn a 68-65 deficit into a 79-68 win over Ole Miss in Austin.
On Wednesday, the Longhorns, a Last Four Bye team in Joe Lunardi’s bracketology from Monday night, face the Rebels in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Texas went 9-9 in the SEC regular season and enters as the No. 10 seed. The Longhorns come into Wednesday on a little bit of a slump, having lost four of their last five. Two of those losses, though, have come against Florida and Arkansas. It’s been a much tougher road for the Rebels, though. After opening the SEC schedule at 3-2, they have lost 12 of their last 13 games and are the No. 15 seed.
Of course, this game, as well as the earlier matchup, holds plenty of meaning to Chris Beard, the Longhorns’ head coach from 2021 to his dismissal in early 2023.
According to ESPN Analytics, the Longhorns will move on to the second round as the matchup predictor has given them a 67.8% chance of winning. Kalshi is taking action on this matchup as well:
The winner will face seventh-seeded Georgia on Thursday. Ole Miss won at Georgia 97-95 in overtime on Jan. 14 behind a last-second bucket by Patton Pinkins. Texas faced the Bulldogs twice in the regular season, beating them 87-67 on Jan. 24 before losing 91-80 in Athens on Feb. 21.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
