Ole Miss is well-positioned for the 2nd half of the conference basketball schedule, sitting in 2nd place with 9 games remaining. Each of the remaining games is entirely winnable by Ole Miss if it maintains the level of play displayed on its current 4-game winning streak. The RPI is looking good (No. 44), and ESPN's Joe Lunardi currently projects the Rebels as a 10-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
As of right now Andy Kennedy has a very good shot at leading Ole Miss to the 2nd NCAA Tournament in three years.
But watch out. February is when the grind really starts. The season gets long. Legs get tired. Focus gets lost. February has been a struggle in recent years for Ole Miss. The Rebels lost four straight in February a year ago, and a February nose-dive almost cost Andy Kennedy his first NCAA Tournament the year before that. Ole Miss is in great position to finish the season strong, but a couple losses to the wrong teams (like Mississippi State, Vanderbilt or Alabama) could cause a fast plummet in RPI and push the Rebels back outside the bubble.
Ole Miss can't let that happen.
February is a huge month for this team.
The Rebels play at Auburn on Saturday (5:30 p.m., SEC Network).