Support Pours In After Coach Yo Publicly Challenges AP Poll on Ole Miss Ranking

Yolett McPhee-McCuin, the head coach of the Ole Miss women’s basketball team, has built a program that deserves respect, and she’s not going to wait for pollsters to notice it anymore. McPhee-McCuin is making it clear that her team deserves recognition that matches their performance on the court after leading the Rebels to a 16-3 record and big wins over ranked teams.

After the latest AP Top 25 poll came out on January 12, Yolett McPhee-McCuin went to X to complain about the ranking system.

“This is a joke! And if the voters not going to do their jobs, we don’t need a AP POLL! Had we lost two games in a row, we’d be fighting to stay in, or we’d be out!” she wrote.

The coach’s harsh words came after Ole Miss moved up only two spots to No. 16, even after having a great week that included beating then-No. 5 Oklahoma, 74-69, on the road and Mississippi State, 93-68, at home.

The coach didn’t hold back during her January 13 press conference either. “I always feel like we have to do stuff three times more in order to get the respect that we deserve,” she said. To make her point, she cited the UConn–Michigan example. “You know, Michigan barely lost to UConn, and they treated them as if they were like the number six team in the country right away.”

For context, back in November, the top-ranked UConn Huskies held off a valiant comeback from the No. 6 (at the time, now no.8) Michigan Wolverines, escaping with a 72–69 win. Despite the loss, Michigan stayed at No. 6 in the following poll after pushing the defending champions to the final buzzer.

Coach Yo also pointed to LSU’s jump (six spots) after beating Texas before turning to Ole Miss’ own week. “Okay, we go on the road. We lose to Texas by three points. We go on the road to Oklahoma who’s number five. We won. Then we come home against a Mississippi State team that is it’s rivalry and we do something we hadn’t done since 1991, right? Beat them by 25 points and you move us up two spots. Like where’s the consistency?” she said frustrated.

The numbers back up Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s argument. So, naturally, fans supported Coach Yo’s message and flooded social media with support for the program.

Basketball Fans rally behind coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin’s call for recognition

McPhee-McCuin‘s direct message struck a chord with people outside of Ole Miss, and fans agreed with her frustration.

People were upset with how the AP voters judged Ole Miss’s performance. “Agreed! Keep ballin’ and prove them wrong,” remarked one fan. The Rebels have indeed been balling. The three-point loss to Texas featured an incredible fourth-quarter turnaround that saw Ole Miss cut a 19-point deficit down to as little as three. Texas entered the final quarter with a 15-point lead, but a vicious effort from Cotie McMahon nearly powered the Rebels all the way back to complete the comeback.

Maybe performances like that are why people keep believing in Coach Yo’s group. Another backed up the coach’s point of view, writing, “That’s right! Let them know, coach. Get it right.” Sure, this must have fired up the Rebels, but the road ahead doesn’t get any easier, with matchups against Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, LSU, and South Carolina still looming. We’ll see if coach’s can turn that frustration into something tangible on the court.

For now, fans continue to give more examples, as one wrote, “You must be talking about Iowa State. And WVU who blasted them isn’t even ranked.” Meanwhile, another added, “Kentucky beat LSU & OKC and is still ranked under LSU.” These were just a few. Another example of the inconsistency is Ohio State moving up five spots to No. 14 for beating No. 8 Maryland by four points. The Buckeyes, though, are two spots behind Maryland this week in the rankings.

Then there’s Oklahoma, who lost at home to Ole Miss and on the road to Kentucky. The Sooners dropped eight spots to No. 13, two spots ahead of a team they just lost to. Hence, the skepticism around the AP Poll has always been there. There is this whole section that argues that the AP Poll is never to be trusted. “AP is a joke as I have said before,” read another response.

We know these rankings have long been a topic of debate, to the point where fans often feel voters aren’t watching the games and that there’s a lack of week-to-week consistency. “The AP poll has been crooked for over a decade. I swear the voters do not watch any of the games,” as a fan penned. And it’s not just a women’s basketball issue, or even a basketball one. The same concerns exist in college football as well.

“Do your job, AP voters! These players deserve it!!!” was another reaction. And this is our final note, too. These athletes give everything they have on the court. While coaches will always want their teams to be up there and frustration after every ranking makes sense, it shouldn’t come down to inconsistency or feel unfair week after week.