Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard thinks about one thing during March basketball

Ole Miss all but punched its ticket into the NCAA Tournament, beating Oklahoma 87-84 at the Pavilion on Saturday.

The Rebels have not made the dance since 2019, going out in the first round to Oklahoma six years ago. Head coach Chris Beard has managed to get the team to the tournament in his second season.

Beard spoke to the media after the win over the Sooners, saying that he was brought in to make the NCAA Tournament.

"It’s what I was hired to do. I take that very seriously. I never forget the bottom line. For me, personally, which is a small part of this, this was the job we were hired to do."

Chris Beard

Although that is the clear goal, Beard says there is one thing he aims to do during March aside from pushing for the NCAA Tournament.

"More importantly, by far, I think about the players. I want Matt (Murrell) and (Jaemyn Brakefield) and others, Dre (Davis), I want them to experience what winning basketball is this month. Ninety-nine percent, I really just think about the players."

Chris Beard

Thanks to the transfer portal, Beard has put together an incredible roster this season. Even when the team loses, the fight is there, a culture that the Ole Miss fans love to see. The reward is an NCAA Tournament spot, something that one of the players will experience for the first time.

Chris Beard finished speaking to the media, bringing up March again. He is excited for the team but knows there is so much more work to do.

"We talked about making a run, which is also known as winning and then being one of those teams that could maybe win six games in three weekends. I’m very happy for the players where we are at this position. But we have so much more work to do. We’re just trying to build this program. It’s Year 2. Proud of the players and the story should be the players. We’ll see what we can get done here the rest of this month."

Chris Beard

Ole Miss faces two top-five teams to finish out the regular season. #5 Tennessee in the final home game of the season, then #3 Florida on the road. Then it's SEC Tournament time, hopefully with a first-round bye.