Memphis lost to Ole Miss. Here’s what we learned.
University of Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway during a break in action against Ole Miss on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
OXFORD, Miss. — Penny Hardaway knows the time is now.
The Memphis Tigers coach understands that if his team is going to build an at-large NCAA Tournament resume — and not be forced to win the American Conference Tournament to punch its March Madness ticket — it must do so in the next five-plus weeks.
It’s in this span that the Tigers will play five more opponents currently ranked in KenPom’s top 35 and expected to make the NCAA Tournament.
That’s why there was a level of legitimate concern in Hardaway’s voice after an 83-77 road loss to Ole Miss on Tuesday night in which his new-look team — in just its second regular-season game together — was competitive against a team projected to finish in the top half of a loaded SEC.
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Parth Upadhyaya
Parth Upadhyaya covers the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team. A Raleigh, N.C., native and a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Media and Journalism, Upadhyaya is a longtime college hoops junkie. Prior to joining The Daily Memphian in 2022, he covered high school sports in western Pennsylvania for the Beaver County Times and Penn State football for the Centre Daily Times.
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