Is the Ole Miss basketball team fraudulent? A question that was not on head coach Chris Beard’s radar when Ole Miss earned its 10th-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament has now been the talk of the town in Oxford and among Rebel faithful after an analyst took to the airwaves with a harsh critique of the red and blue.
For the first time in six years, the Rebels will be competing in March Madness. Ole Miss (22-11) appeared on brackets as a No. 6 seed, its highest placement in the Big Dance since 2001, and was slated to take on the winner of the No. 11 seed First Four matchup against North Carolina and San Diego State. Well, we now know that the Rebels will battle the Tar Heels on Friday in Wisconsin after Hubert Davis’ group decimated the Aztecs 95-68 on Tuesday night.
While the 2024-25 campaign has been a successful one in Beard’s second year at the helm, not everybody is on board with the hype surrounding an Ole Miss squad that had a winning record in the nation’s toughest conference. Tim Doyle, an analyst with CBS Sports, made it abundantly clear on Selection Sunday that he is betting on a first-round exit for the Rebels.
Taking things a step further, not only did Doyle say that he was confident that the winner of the North Carolina/San Diego State matchup would beat Ole Miss, but he also elevated his rhetoric several degrees and accused the Rebels of being fraudulent.
“I think Ole Miss is a fraud,” Doyle said. “Ole Miss gets a lot of love because they play in a great conference … and they had a lot of opportunities and stuff, [but] eyeball test with Ole Miss, that is a fraud at No. 6.”
“I think Ole Miss is a fraud.”@TimDoyle00 does not think Ole Miss can make a run in the NCAA Tournament. pic.twitter.com/b2zYpngUcN
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 17, 2025
Beard, who acknowledged in an interview on The Jim Rome Show that he was first made aware of Doyle’s comments during Monday’s press conference with local media, took exception with the allegation levied at his team. The second-year Ole Miss frontman, whose storied past in the NCAA Tournament includes a national championship appearance with Texas Tech, contended that “fraud” was a disingenuous term to use when referring to his players.
“The word ‘fraud’ is pretty strong. If you want to talk about our transition defense or our shooting percentages, no problem. But I think ‘fraud’ is more of a personal attack on our players. I didn’t appreciate it. I don’t think it’s worthy. Friday night, we’ll have a chance to make those amends,” Beard told show host Jim Rome.
“I hope the guy — I couldn’t pick him (Doyle) out of a lineup — I hope he’s in Milwaukee. I hope he’s in the press conference after the game. I would love to meet him.”
.@CoachBeard responds to @OleMissMBB being called ‘frauds’ in the media. pic.twitter.com/rHwoVnXT5q
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) March 19, 2025
To Beard’s credit, it’s rare for a team with as solid of a résumé as the one Ole Miss compiled to be deemed “fraudulent.” This season, the Rebels have amassed two top-four wins — a program first in a singular season. Specifically, Ole Miss went to Alabama on Jan. 14 and defeated the then-No. 4 Crimson Tide 74-64. In the Rebels’ home finale on March 5, the red and blue came out victorious over then-No. 4 Tennessee, 78-76.
Ole Miss also racked up wins over BYU, Louisville, Georgia, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Oklahoma — all of whom are in this year’s Big Dance. On the losing side of the column, all 11 of the Rebels’ shortcomings on the scoreboard occurred against NCAA Tournament teams.
Overall, the Rebels were 8-10 in Quad 1 games, 5-1 in Quad 2 matchups, and undefeated in Quad 3 and 4 contests. Putting this into perspective, North Carolina, the Rebels’ next foe, is 1-12 versus Quad 1 opponents and has a Quad 3 loss. Nonetheless, oddsmakers across the board have the Tar Heels as a narrow favorite over Ole Miss.
As for the upcoming game and the NCAA Tournament in general, Beard is confident that his team has the ability to make a March Madness run, though he acknowledged that the task will not be easy.
“Are we good enough to win six games in three weekends? Yes. Is it probable? No. But possible? Definitely,” Beard said. “We’ll have to play our best basketball of the season. I think there are some other teams that might be able to get away with [playing] their ‘B,’ ‘B+’ games in the first couple of rounds. We’re not one of those teams.”
Ole Miss and North Carolina will tip off from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Friday at 3:05 p.m. CT. TNT will be televising the matchup and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations will broadcast it on the radio airwaves. This will be the third time the two programs have squared off on the hardwood, with the last round of sparring occurring in 1926. The Rebels and Tar Heels have a tied overall record of 1-1.
