Ole Miss women’s basketball ranked No. 22 in final USA Today Coaches Poll of the season
OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) Following its 19th NCAA Tournament appearance and a run to its 11th Sweet 16 in program history, Ole Miss finds itself in the final USA Today Coaches Poll of the season slotted at No. 22. For the 9th time and the first since 2007, the Rebels end the season ranked.
In record setting fashion, eighth seeded Ole Miss toppled No. 9 Gonzaga in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament in Stanford, 71-48. The Rebels limited the Zags to a program low 48 points allowed in an NCAA Tournament game as well as draining a best of seven three’s in a Tournament game. Ole Miss was also on a tear off the boards, grabbing an NCAA game-high of 51 rebounds.
Matching up against No. 1 Stanford in the Second Round, Ole Miss came to play from the jump by taking an early lead against the Cardinal and never looked back by leading the entirety of the game. The Rebels knocked off the top-seeded Cardinal, 54-49 to earn its first win against a No. 1 seed in seven tries. With the win, Ole Miss became the fifth eight seed to reach the Sweet 16.
Despite falling to No. 5 Louisville, 72-62 in a tough matchup in Seattle in the Sweet 16, the Rebels wrap up the 2022-23 campaign with 25 wins for the seventh time in program history.
Final USA Today Coaches Poll – 04/03
| Rank | School (record) | Points | Last week’s rank |
First-place votes |
| 1 | LSU (34-2) | 750 | 6 | 30 |
| 2 | Iowa (31-7) | 712 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | South Carolina (36-1) | 697 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | Virginia Tech (31-5) | 658 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Maryland (28-7) | 604 | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | Ohio State (28-8) | 546 | 12 | 0 |
| 7 | Indiana (28-4) | 519 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | Utah (27-5) | 513 | 9 | 0 |
| 9 | Connecticut (31-6) | 509 | 8 | 0 |
| 10 | Stanford (29-6) | 476 | 4 | 0 |
| 11 | Notre Dame (27-6) | 402 | 11 | 0 |
| 12 | Villanova (30-7) | 401 | 10 | 0 |
| 13 | UCLA (27-10) | 355 | 15 | 0 |
| 14 | Louisville (26-12) | 331 | NR | 0 |
| 15 | Colorado (25-9) | 286 | 21 | 0 |
| 16 | Duke (26-7) | 252 | 13 | 0 |
| 17 | Oklahoma (26-7) | 243 | 14 | 0 |
| 18 | Miami (Fla.) (22-13) | 240 | NR | 0 |
| 19 | Texas (26-10) | 203 | 16 | 0 |
| 20 | Tennessee (25-12) | 187 | NR | 0 |
| 21 | North Carolina (22-11) | 164 | 19 | 0 |
| 22 | Mississippi (25-9) | 155 | NR | 0 |
| 23 | Michigan (23-10) | 141 | 18 | 0 |
| 24 | Florida Gulf Coast (33-4) | 86 | 22 | 0 |
| 25 | Iowa State (22-10) | 77 | 20 | 0 |
(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
