Ole Miss has played inspired basketball through the first two games of the NCAA tournament and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2001. The Rebels have a chance to continue their magical run by knocking off Michigan State on Friday night. And if they do, that will only mean more bad news for CBS Sports' Tim Doyle, who boldly proclaimed Ole Miss as a non-factor during the many hours of bracket breakdown before the big dance tipped off.
Doyle already got owned by Beard after Ole Miss' win over Iowa State. But that doesn't mean the team cannot draw further inspiration and drive from similar comments.
Beard joined Infinity Sports Network host Zach Gelb on Wednesday to talk about all attention, both good and bad.
"I think you can say a lot of things about our team, like you can about other teams, but I don't think you can say Ole Miss Basketball is a fraud." -@OleMissMBB @CoachBeard
— Zach Gelb (@ZachGelb) March 25, 2025
Full Zach Gelb chat with Chris Beard on @InfSportsNet here: https://t.co/LW0ZHUbRM0 @TimDoyle00 pic.twitter.com/dyCsBpOxgE
"Anybody who’s talking about you, whether they’re talking good or bad, it is good, because people don’t talk about people aren’t [relevant]. So for people to have critical things to say about us, I don’t know, they’re talking about Ole Miss. For people to have some positive things to say about us, thank you. I think we’ve earned the right to have some positive, as well. But that’s fuel. All the great competitors know how to find their fuel.”
“That’s one of the fun things about the NCAA Tournament: we don’t spend a lot of time, or really much time at all, talking about those,” Beard added. “But the whole "fraud" deal, that did reach our locker room. And we’ve enjoyed competing through that. If we don’t do our part of the bargain, and if we don’t make it to the Sweet 16, then maybe that’s valid. But, I think at this point, to be one of the 16 teams left in college basketball, I think you can say a lot of things about our team like you can other teams, but I don’t think you can say Ole Miss Basketball is a fraud."
No matter what happens on Friday night, future scholars will come to the universal conclusion that this edition of the Ole Miss men's basketball team was not fraudulent. No team that makes it this far and posts this many victories can ever be called that. Now, if a top seed has its run stop short of the Elite 8? Well, that's a different story.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Chris Beard Explains How Being Called Frauds Has Helped Ole Miss.
