Chris Beard Explains How Ole Miss Being Called Frauds Has Fueled Team On Sweet Sixteen Run

Other than Arkansas, a 10-seed, Ole Miss would be next on the list of Cinderellas still alive in the men's NCAA Tournament. Despite being a six-seed, one could easily argue that Ole Miss is the biggest underdog left in the tournament given the Rebels' lack of size, NBA-level talent, and program history.

SIGN UP for The Daily OutKick. New Look, Same Attitude.

Head coach Chris Beard and his Ole Miss players likely don't mind being looked at as the underdog. They're used to it at this point, but being called frauds? That's a different story.

Just minutes after the NCAA Tournament bracket was released, CBS college basketball analyst Tim Doyle labeled Ole Miss a "fraud" and predicted that the Rebels would lose their first-round matchup against either North Carolina or San Diego State. 

"Ole Miss gets a lot of love because they played in a great conference. They had a lot of opportunities. Eyeball test. That is a fraud," Doyle said in part.

Chris Beard says the Ole Miss team has had plenty of fun playin the 'fraud' role in the NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

The Rebels went on to beat the Tar Heels 71-64 in the opening round, and then proved Doyle wrong again with a dominant 91-78 win over Iowa State to punch their ticket into the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2001.

While Doyle's fraud comments or any other negative attention the media has thrown Ole Miss' way hasn't impacted the x's and o's side of things or anything else going on inside the lines, Beard did admit that his team has used it all as a bit of bulletin board material.

"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 told Info Sports Net.

"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."

Beard had some fun inside the Ole Miss locker room after the Rebels beat up on Iowa State in the second round and jokingly asked his players where Doyle was.

The Rebels take on Michigan State on Friday night with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line, and just as they did in their first two games of the tournament, enter the game as the underdog.

One of the key metrics heading into the Ole Miss - Michigan State game is three-point shooting. The Rebels are a scorching 19-for-39 from deep in the tournament, but the Spartans have been the best team in the country at defending the three-point shot all season.