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SEC fines Ole Miss for storming court after upset of Tennessee
By Paul Harvey
Published:
The SEC confirmed a significant fine for Ole Miss, following the Rebels’ stunning 78-76 upset of No. 4 Tennessee.
On Wednesday, the two sides tangled in a true back-and-forth affair that came all the way down to the final 10 seconds of regulation. Jaemyn Brakefield eventually scored a game-winning basket with 7 seconds remaining, setting off a wild scene in Oxford.
On Friday, the SEC offices confirmed Ole Miss was receiving a fine for violation of the access to competition area policy after the win. League commissioner Greg Sankey praised AD Keith Carter and Ole Miss for updating their postgame policy and acknowledged that “the vast majority of fans” abided by the rule.
Still, it wasn’t enough to avoid the $500,000 fine for a 3rd violation of the current policy. Ole Miss was previously fined after the 2023 football win over LSU and the 2024 win over Georgia.
Keith Carter and the Ole Miss leadership have been diligent in updating its postgame basketball court access policy and it was encouraging to see the vast majority of fans obey the new policy by remaining in the stands immediately following Wednesday’s game with Tennessee. It is disappointing that a small number of fans have created this problem, but the postgame court incursion by fans who disregarded the policy violates the expectations of the access to competition area policy,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. “As the Conference continues to review field rushing and court storming policy, we need to consider all that is now being done to adjust fan behavior including reducing or removing financial penalties when the administrative leadership is ignored by a small group of people. Additionally, the game was disrupted when debris was thrown onto the court, which is a violation of SEC sportsmanship policies and individuals identified as having thrown debris are to be banned from attending future athletic events.
Along with the fine, Ole Miss received a citation for an interruption in gameplay when a fan threw an object on the court.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
