The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Hoops Enters AP Poll at No. 25
12/7/2009 | Men's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - A pair of wins over Arkansas State and Southern Miss this past week were enough to slide the Ole Miss men's basketball into the No. 25 slot in Monday's Associated Press poll.
Andy Kennedy's Rebels are nationally ranked for the first time since the week of Jan. 28, 2008, when they were No. 24 in the AP and No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. The team is currently receiving votes in the coaches poll and has been getting votes in both polls since the preseason.
"I'm happy for our guys, but we all realize it's a long season and our team still has much to work on," Kennedy said in response to the ranking.
The Rebels improved to 7-1 with a dramatic win over Southern Miss at home on Saturday. Ole Miss was down by six with just over a minute left to play, but a pair of clutch 3-pointers by Chris Warren helped knot the score at 79-79 with a handful of seconds left to play. The Golden Eagles missed a shot and a tip on their final possession and Warren grabbed a long rebound and fired an outlet pass ahead to a streaking Eniel Polynice, who dunked with 1.3 seconds left to win the game 81-79.
Ole Miss is one of five SEC teams currently ranked in one or both polls, including Kentucky (4/4), Tennessee (9/9), Florida (10/11) and Vanderbilt (nr/24).
The Rebels are in the midst of final exams this week before returning to the Tad Smith Coliseum court for Saturday's tilt with McNeese State at 1 p.m.