The Grove Report

The Early Prediction: Ole Miss Basketball vs. North Carolina Tar Heels in Round One

The Rebels head to Milwaukee for Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament, face a fiery Tar Heels squad.

Zack Nagy

Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Basketball.
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The Ole Miss Rebels hopped on a flight on Wednesday afternoon to hit the road to Milwaukee for a first-round matchup against the North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament.

Chris Beard's crew earned the No. 6 seed in the South Region after an impressive 2024-25 season with all eyes now on their "March Madness" appearance.

The Tar Heels are fresh off of taking down San Diego State on Tuesday night in the "First Four" game of the NCAA Tournament.

Following an impressive opening contest, it's set the tone for a challenging game in Round 1 of the tournament between both the Rebels and Tar Heels.

Once North Carolina received a bid to the "Big Dance," it sent shockwaves across the country with critics believing the program didn't deserve a chance, but the program is looking to silence critics.

“We know we deserved to be here. We’re not looking to send a message to anybody else,” UNC guard Seth Trimble said after the win. “We’re just looking to compete as a team and be the team that we know that we’re capable of being.

"I think we did that tonight. We’ll go through that when we get to Milwaukee and go from there. We hear what people say. We don’t really care. It is what it is. We’re focused on us.”

Now, it's set the tone for Friday afternoon in Milwaukee.

It'll be the Ole Miss Rebels taking on the North Carolina Tar Heels with head coach Chris Beard excited for the task at hand while remaining as prepared as ever.

“We try not to have any surprises this time of year, all the way down to the hotel, bus to practice and practice. When you’re really prepared is when you have a chance to be confident. With our players that have played in the NCAA Tournament — Sean (Pedulla), Juju (Murray) and (Davon) Barnes — leaning on those guys’ experience,” Beard said Monday.

“Kind of registering their memory banks to what it was like. With our staff that’s one thing we’ll do. We already started that last night and continued it this morning.

"We’re just trying to make sure our guys are prepared and knowledgeable of what this tournament is. It’s a little bit different than the games we’ve been playing.”

The No. 6 seeded Rebels will enter the clash as underdogs, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.

The Betting Odds: Round 1 of the NCAA Tournament

Spread:
- Ole Miss: (+1.5)
- North Carolina: (-1.5)

Moneyline:
- Ole Miss: (+102)
- North Carolina: (-122)

Over/Under: 155.5

The Ole Miss Rebels will enter the clash in Milwaukee as 1.5-point underdogs with Vegas favoring the Tar Heels following impressive victory over San Diego State.

The Early Prediction: Ole Miss 74, North Carolina 71

Ole Miss ranks No. 13 nationally in assists/turnovers with a 1.62 ratio, No. 29 nationally in steals per game with 8.8 steals per game, and No. 3 nationally in turnovers per game with 8.9 per game.

The Rebels will need to continue maintain those averages if the team wants to make a serious run in the Big Dance this year, and they certainly have the roster to accomplish it.

It'll start in Round 1 against the Tar Heels with the program entering as underdogs in Friday's clash with tipoff set for 3:05 p.m. CT on TNT.

More Ole Miss News:

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Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Rebels Confirm Spring Game Plans in April

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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.

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Zack Nagy
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