Mississippi’s two SEC men’s basketball programs have cracked the latest top 25 from the Associated Press after opening the 2024-25 campaign unblemished.
Coming in at No. 23 in the poll is an Ole Miss squad coming off its first triple-digit scoring performance of the season. Chris Beard’s group put 50 points on the board in each half in a 100-68 win over Oral Roberts on Thursday to open things up with a 5-0 record.
In its first five contests this season, Ole Miss has won by as many as 32 points and as few as two as Beard and company continue to find the right mix of veterans and transfer portal additions to have on the floor.
As things stand, Virginia Tech transfer Sean Pedulla leads the team in scoring with 14.4 points per game. Returners Jaylen Murray, Matthew Murrell, and Jaemyn Brakefield are also averaging double figures.
The Rebels currently hold the longest active non-conference winning streak in the country, with 17 straight victories over teams outside the SEC. That feat will be tested on Thanksgiving when Ole Miss takes on BYU in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego, California at 4:30 p.m. CT.
Mississippi State found themselves at the No. 25 spot in the rankings. Chris Jans’ club is looking to continue a perfect streak of appearing in the NCAA Tournament since the frontman made his way to Starkville. A battle-tested Bulldog squad remains unbeaten after facing a couple of challenges early.
The Bulldogs cruised through their first three matchups, winning by an average of 30 points, but found themselves in nail-biting situations in their last two outings. Mississippi State trailed both Utah and SMU at halftime and leaned on second-half heroics to emerge a victor in both matchups.
Reigning Howell Trophy winner Josh Hubbard remains the Bulldogs’ glue guy. The sophomore from Madison is averaging 20.2 points, 3.6 assists, and over 30 minutes on the floor in each game.
Jans and company will look to continue a strong opening to the season in a Thanksgiving Day showdown versus UNLV in the Arizona Tip-Off in Tempe. The game will begin at 8:30 p.m. CT.
As always, Ole Miss and Mississippi State basketball games are broadcast on participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations along with various television providers. The top 25, which features nine SEC programs, can be found below:
- Kansas
- UConn
- Gonzaga
- Auburn
- Iowa State
- Houston
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
- Alabama
- Marquette
- Duke
- North Carolina
- Purdue
- Indiana
- Wisconsin
- Cincinnati
- Baylor
- Florida
- Arkansas
- Texas A&M
- Creighton
- Xavier
- Ole Miss
- Arizona
- Mississippi State
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