When the call came for trips out of the country, Rebels coach may have figured it would be easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

OXFORD, Miss. — Considering the question was asked (and answered) last year, exactly why does Chris Beard’s brief time in Little Rock still news?

That was the first thing for  the Ole Miss coach at the SEC Tip-Off on Tuesday was about his year in Little Rock. It was also asked and covered last year. Did the reporter think it was going to change any time soon?

“I told you last year, loved my year at Little Rock,” Beard said, obviously anticipating the question from an Arkansas reporter. “Special team. Had a couple players on that team that were good enough to play in the SEC. I loved the food in downtown Little Rock, got great family and friends there. Be really interested in answering a question today about anything Ole Miss or SEC basketball.”

That more or less set the tone. I was hoping the next question is if he’d found some pretty good food in Oxford, but the plowed on through. They basically ignored his last comments.

It was tied loosely to the SEC in general with Oklahoma coach Porter Moser being a graduate at UALR and how their time there may have helped them get to leading an SEC program.

Beard handled it quickly (no negatives on Little Rok) and was ready to move on. He finally got around to talking about this year’s team, but more importantly, what he’s building for the Rebels.

Particularly improving the non-conference schedule, especially for home games.

“That’s one of the responsibilities of the head coach of Ole Miss is to think about from time to time what is good for the game of basketball in the state of Mississippi,” he said.

That’s something several Ole Miss coaches have talked about over the years, but few have actually done it. I’ve heard coaches at other programs say if anybody gets the entire state suddenly making basketball something other than entertainment between football and baseball, it could be huge.

The state of Mississippi has cranked out NBA players by the truckload over the years. Most of them have played for schools in other states. Beard probably sees that.

“We’ve upgraded the schedule,” Beard said. “We’ve got some exciting games. We’ve got some home games. We’ve got some neutral site games. But, yeah, I think this year’s schedule is going to give us an opportunity to do some things in the non-conference. I told the guys yesterday in our meeting, the schedule is going to give you opportunity, and as a player that’s all you can really ask for, and as a coach, same thing.”

The Rebels will start with an exhibition game Sunday, Oct. 27, against Illinois.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin says after 29-26 loss in overtime to LSU it’s a loss that’s going to take awhile to go away.