Ole Miss Basketball: More Numbers From March Madness

So every Ole Miss basketball fan we know is excited about the upcoming NCAA Tourney and the fact is our Rebels are a No.8 seed in the Big Dance.

SEC Coach of the Year Kermit Davis and Ole Miss basketball are in the Big Dance and Ole Miss basketball fans are excited. Those of you who personally know me also know I love college basketball and especially March Madness when the Rebels are in the field. The 2019 NCAA Selection Committee established Ole Miss as a No.8 seed. A perfect spot for a team picked to finish last in the SEC.

Regardless of how well coach Kerm and the Rebels may do when they face off against No.9 seed Oklahoma we do know this has been a great season for the Rebels. Fact, the Ole Miss Rebels hit a 20 win season under a first year head coach. Fact, Ole Miss enters their 9th Big Dance in program history which is far better than some schools. Also there are other facts about the NCAA Tourney which some of you may not have known.

Abstract Facts

Ole Miss Rebels

When you look at the impact the NCAA Tourney aka ‘March Madness’ has then you can truly respect what it really means. Here are a few facts about the NCAA Tourney you may not know. Thanks to John S Kiernan and the folks at  Wallethub.com we have been provided with a look at some very interesting numbers regarding the NCAA Tourney and March Madness.

The highest paid head college basketball coach is Duke’s Mike Kryzewski whose salary in 2019 is 8.98 million dollars. Earlier we talked about being distracted by March Madness and the following numbers are a strong indicator. Over 4 billion dollars will be lost by corporations due to the lack of productivity during the NCAA Tourney. Also there will be over 10 billion dollars wagered on the NCAA Tourney with 9.7 billion bet illegally.

Another interesting number is 18X which marks the difference between the average salary of a NBA rookie at 2.75 million compared to the worth of a DI college basketball players scholarship at $150,000. OHT will take a closer look at this in the coming days. There are more amazing NCAA Tourney facts available here.

Where Is Oxford?

Once again John S Kiernan at Wallethub.com has crunched the numbers and ranked every basketball city according to size and other criteria such as fan engagement and arena accessibility. Lawrence, Kansas comes in at No.1 while New Britain, Connecticut rounds out the rankings at No.289. Our own Oxford, Mississippi ranks at No.44 on the list. To see the complete list and the different breakdowns by category you can check them out here.

Please be sure to check back here for more NCAA Tourney and March Madness info as we draw nearer to the Rebel tipoff in Columbia, South Carolina this Friday. Also be sure to be watching for the OHT Ole Miss/Oklahoma preview coming soon. Hotty Toddy!