Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway has high March Madness aspirations. He has been transparent in recent weeks when the topic of NCAA Tournament seeding prospects is broached during interviews. The No. 20 Tigers (12-3, 2-0 AAC) have made two March Madness appearances under Hardaway, first as a 9-seed in 2022, then an 8-seed in 2023.

The Memphis basketball team needed to make a statement against No. 16 Ole Miss Saturday. It got exactly that with an 87-70 win over the Rebels.

The Gamecocks are a No. 1 seed in the latest bracketology Tuesday. Here's where South Carolina stands in the latest March Madness projections.

Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0) is off to a nice start this season. The Rebels beat Georgia 63-51 to open SEC play and have emerged as one of many high-quality SEC teams. Here's where Ole Miss is projected in the NCAA tournament: ESPN's Joe Lunardi projected Ole Miss to be a No.