With days away from the start of the women's NCAA Tournament, media analysts are dropping their tournament bracket predictions. Charlie Creme of ESPN has Ole Miss women playing spoiler during March Madness.
The Lady Rebels have been playing some high-level basketball down the back stretch of the season. After winning their final six regular season games, they reached the semi-finals of the SEC Tournament, losing a close game to LSU.
It's a positive going into a tournament with momentum, with Ole Miss also being able to lean on their early season Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament win.
In his bracket breakdown, Creme had Ole Miss progressing past Marquette in the 1st round, setting up a 2nd round match-up against #2 seed Notre Dame. Creme then had the Rebels knocking off the Fighting Irish, mentioning Ole Miss as his sleeper team in the tournament.
ESPN’s Charlie Creme predicts Ole Miss will upset Notre Dame 👀 pic.twitter.com/awSLvlncuz
— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) March 18, 2024
Notre Dame, who usually have a good basketball roster, are suffering with injuries, with the reliable Kylee Watson, the latest Irish player to go down with a season-ending injury. It leaves the team with only six healthy scholarship players heading into the tournament.
In his Sweet 16 predictions, Creme had Ole Miss women moving on again, beating Pac-12 team Oregon State. It set up an all-SEC encounter against South Carolina in his Elite 8 bracket.
That is where he predicted the Ole Miss run coming to an end, saying that the Gamecocks would make the Final Four comfortably. Going on the early season meeting, you could not argue with his reasoning, with South Carolina brushing aside the Rebels 85-56. Creme went on to pick South Carolina to win it all, beating UCLA in the final.
If Ole Miss does come head-to-head against the unbeaten South Carolina, anything can happen in March Madness. However, making a Final Four appearance would be another positive step for the Lady Rebels under head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin