Ace up the sleeve?

A lot of the talk about the Oxford Regional is Mizzou’s choice to hold ace Kyle Gibson for a potential matchup with the Rebels on Saturday. MU head coach Tim Jamieson is quoted as saying, “we’re not here to win Friday, we’re here to win the regional”. It’s a calculated risk by Jamieson, as Western Kentucky is a good offensive team and Mizzou’s offensive numbers don’t really jump off the paper at you. The drop off from Gibson (10-3, 3.47) to Nick Tepesch (6-4, 5.81) is pretty drastic. If Tepesch doesn't make it out of the 3rd inning tomorrow, this is going to look like a boneheaded move.

Meanwhile, Mike Bianco is taking heat in some Rebel circles for his decision to start “ace” Drew Pomeranz Friday night against Monmouth instead of the Saturday game against WKU/MU. He’s in a much different situation than Jamieson though as there’s hardly a discernable difference between Pomeranz and Saturday starter Philip Irwin. Here are the SEC-only stats for each.

Pomeranz: 5-3, 4.12 ERA, .273 opponent’s BA, 1.46 WHIP, 3.17 K/BB ratio
Irwin: 5-3, 4.40 ERA, .293 BA, 1.47 WHIP, 3.0 K/BB ratio

Each pitcher also uncorked 5 wild pitches during SEC play. Irwin also plunked 5 batters while Pomeranz didn’t hit anyone.

As a whole, Pomeranz’s numbers are better across the board, but not by much. Pom has been our Friday night starter since… ahem… his season started and he’s served us fairly well at that position. Irwin’s been solid as a Saturday guy as well. I understand the “Save Your Ace” strategy and typically am a proponent of it. But in this case, it doesn’t really matter Bianco chooses as the numbers are so similar.
Bianco would take some heat regardless of his pitching rotation this weekend. Our true ace is unavailable for the postseason in all likelihood, and we’re left with basically interchangeable parts with Irwin and Pom. I say don’t mess with a rotation that shared an SEC Championship. Pom on Friday, Irwin on Saturday.

Thursday Links

* As I predicted – not that I really went out on a limb – Chris Low ranks Jevan Snead the 3rd best player in the SEC. It’s hard to really disagree with him. Snead’s talents are best summed up in this sentence:

He's the kind of talent at quarterback that doesn't come along very often, and more importantly, the kind of talent you build championship teams around.

That leaves only UT DB Eric Berry and that one dude who plays QB at Florida… whatever his name is. If you were going to have a draft to start a college team, each would likely be the #1 overall pick for their side of the ball. Tebow and Berry are once a decade talents that have dominated their positions for the last 2 years. As good as Snead is, the gap between 2nd best and 3rd best players in the SEC is very, very big.

* Low also has a good read up entitled Simply Loaded in the SEC and looks at the stoutest units in the conference. Predictably, the stable of studs that Nutt and Nix have available at DL is mentioned:

Former Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron obviously knew a thing or two about recruiting and developing defensive linemen. The Rebels will go about eight deep across the defensive front in 2009, and that's after losing first-round draft pick Peria Jerry. Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt says pass-rushing extraordinaire Greg Hardy is dialed in mentally like he hasn't seen him, and tackle Jerrell Powe lost weight and is coming off a stellar spring. Ends Marcus Tillman and Kentrell Lockett combined for 17.5 tackles for loss last season, and both are dynamic leaders. Ted Laurent, Lawon Scott and Justin Smith make for an imposing trio on the inside.

Other units mentioned are the Alabama DL, the LSU secondary, the UGA OL, the Arkansas WRs, and the UF secondary (which is doing just fine thanks since parting ways with the cancerous Jamar Hornsby.)

* Ole Miss guard Terrico White and 16 players you’ve probably never heard of were invited to the Team USA U19 Trials in Colorado Springs, CO.

Glancing over the roster, it appears that Terrico has a legitimate shot at making the roster. This is a great chance for him to get in some additional live game action and hopefully develop a little more reliable outside jumper. If he can consistently knock down an open 15-20 foot jump shot next season, it will open up world of possibilities for him and the Rebel offense in general.

I see your true colors shining through

Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari is back in the news today as allegations of major violations have surfaced at the University of Memphis regarding "knowing fraudulence or misconduct" on an SAT exam by a player on the 2007-08 team. This should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody based on Calipari's track record. The school received the letter of notification on January 16th, making it look more and more like the Kentucky job came along at the perfect time for him.

Geoff Calkins has a fantastic piece in this morning's Commercial Appeal, with a couple of great opening sentences:

John Calipari is one of a handful of college basketball coaches to take two different schools to the Final Four. Before long, he may be the only one to have both of those appearances vacated from the NCAA record books.

He's got a great point, and one that I made more than a year ago:

John Calipari’s only other appearance in the Final Four has been stricken from the record books thanks to a fantastic watch that Marcus Camby was given. Though Calipari successfully weaseled his way out of that, the UMass program is just now righting itself from his tenure there. In my opinion, this appearance has at least a decent chance of disappearing too.

So, for those of you scoring at home, here's a brief recap for you: Calipari - complete with his reputation for being a snake oil salesman - led the University of Memphis to the Final 4, bolts a season later and - shockingly - allegations of major violations surface regarding his star player form that team. This just more than a decade after he led UMass to a Final 4 and bolted shortly thereafter when major violations surfaced regarding his star player. Kentucky - you're officially on notice.

Which brings up some more questions. Did Calipari let UK know about these pending accusations? With UK's somewhat sordid history with NCAA violations, would they have risked the hire if they knew about them? Calipari's always been a "Just Win" type of guy, and it may have landed another of his former programs in trouble again. A Sea of Blue offers a very nice summation here, and has this advice to UK fans:

So embrace that hate, Big Blue Nation, and take pleasure in the loathing. I know I will. It is fun urinating on the schadenfreude of others, and watching them contort themselves into a tizzy to create self-deluded hopes of NCAA sanctions to come. It makes me laugh out loud to see logic tortured to the point of screaming agony. Parsing Coach Cal's occasional cryptic tweets just adds to the aura of suspicion. Have fun with it.

Calipari will most likely skate through this unscathed. He's a master of his devious craft and he almost certainly had the proper procedures in place to disassociate himself from this incident as much as possible. He'll plead ignorance here just like he did in Amherst and the NCAA won't touch him. His ignorance plea will be an outright lie - just like in Amherst - but he's established himself as quite the NCAA cash cow, and that means he won't be touched. (Let's call it the USC Principle.)

So apparently Ole Miss is going to be good or something...

One of my favorite SEC sites - GatorTailgating.com - posted this Rebel football preview earlier today. It's a very well-informed piece that covers a lot. It wraps up with this doozie:

Predictions: I honestly see the Rebels going 12-0 (8-0) and being in national title contention. (Yes I know it is Ole Miss) The only true tests on their schedule are Alabama and LSU, both of whom will have to travel to Oxford. They will lose to the Gators in the SEC championship and go to a BCS bowl.

Those expectations are a little loftier than mine, but I'll not argue with them.

The one thing from the write-up I do question is this quote:

These aren’t the Rebels we all know and used to love to see on the schedule.

Last I checked, we've won 3/4 from the Gators, including 2 in a row in Gainesville. My guess is the Gators are glad to not see us on their schedule this season.

There's potentially a little bit of Pro-Mullen bias lingering as they're predicting a 5-7 season for mitippi tate, which is at least one more win than most are predicting. But that's understandable based on Mullen's run with UF, and I won't hold it against them...

Wednesday quickies

A couple of things caught my eye today perusing the web on my lunch break...

* Doc Saturday lists the six SEC teams he's like to see play a home/home with USC, and Ole Miss is one of them. He offers this explanation:

We're going to be honest here: We really, really want Houston Nutt plopped down in central Los Angeles for no other reason than to see what will happen. It's the college football equivalent of feeding peyote to your pit bull, and we are cheerfully unashamed of our desire to rubberneck. Those watching last year's Cotton Bowl will also recall the Rebels' recent penchant for knocking off media darlings -- while we would not necessarily pick Ole Miss to win outright, an upset would be far from the weirdest thing Nutt has ever done.

Hard to believe that statement is being written about a program that went 3-21 in the SEC over a very recent 3-year span.

* Then of course there's this, which the very title - Nutt, Rebels not giving up on Hornsby - is enough to make me sick. I am a Rebel through and through and I have for damn sure given up on Hornsby. I don't want him anywhere near Oxford or the football team.

Nutt said this about the nefarious delinquent:

"Talking to him, lawyers, his mama, coaches, people that have been around him, I think there's a lot of good there"

Good? The only "good" about Hornsby is his Rivals/Scout star rating and his size as a DB. He's been in trouble - in form or another - since he enrolled at Florida and we just don't need that distraction on the team this year. God bless the Right Reverend Houston Nutt for what's he's accomplished as a Rebel so far, but he is absolutely in the wrong for recruiting Hornsby in the first place and not cutting his losses now.

Even if Hornsby does end up in Oxford this fall, does anyone out there actually think he'll keep his nose clean long enough to play and make an impact? This is a disaster waiting to happen and I hope the staff realizes that before it's too late.

Oxford Regional Announced

As expected, the Rebels' crapping of their collective pants at the SEC Tournament cost them a legitimate shot at receiving a protected seed in the NCAA seeding. The fact that Florida landed the #8 national seed makes it even tougher to swallow. The Rebels were the only visiting team to win an SEC series in Gainesville this season. The Gators also dropped all 5 meetings to an average Arkansas team this season, including 2 in 3 days in Hoover last weekend.

To me, it looked the Rebels were gassed after spending every ounce of energy they had to sweep Arkansas and wrap up a share of the regular season title. They were spent and it showed.

All in all though, there's little to complain about when it comes to our pairings. There's not really a team in our Regional that jumps out you as a scary team. The Rebels ended Mizzou's season last year and - unless Aaron Crow was cloned - stands a good chance to do the same this year.

As for the pairing with UC-Irvine, it's really not as bad as the knee-jerk reaction infiltrating the message boards would have you believe. Yes it'll be a looooooooong trip for Rebel fans if the Rebels and Anteaters both hold serve, but there's always a flip side. This is the first time the Anteaters have ever hosted, so the pressure could get to them. Anyone who was at the incredible debacle that was the first ever Oxford Regional can attest to that. The Rebels fell to Western Kentucky and Washington - neither a very good team - in back to back games, bowing out unceremoniously 0-2. But for the Anteaters, they're not only hosting for the first time, they managed to land the consensus toughest Regional as well.

Of course none of this means anything if the players don't get their heads right before Friday night. My guess is that the week off to regroup and refocus and rest some arms will benefit the Rebels. Certainly having Bittle unavailable complicates matters, but it's time to get to Omaha. Period.

Tuesday Things

* Chris Low rates Greg Hardy the 9th best player in the SEC. He sums up the essence of Greg Hardy in his first two sentences: “ Let's be honest here. Hardy has at times been a bit of an enigma.” When Hardy is healthy and properly focused and motivated, there are few offensive linemen who can match up with him one on one. He’s too quick and too good a slasher. With Peria Jerry gone, Hardy will be key to drawing double teams to let Patrick Trahan and others make plays in space.

My guess is that Jevan Snead ranks #3 in the conference behind Eric Berry and Tim Tebow. Or at least that’s how I’d rank them. Off the top of my head, in random order, Brandon Spikes, Rolando McClain, AJ Green, and Julio Jones will also be in the top 10. Who am I missing?

* The one thing Dan Mullen really had going for him so far this spring was he seemed to be the only rookie coach in the conference not making a spectacle of himself. Gene Chizik and his limos were all over the media and blogosphere. Lane Kiffin… well, that one speaks for itself. But Mullen seemed to just be going about his business. Until now.

Mullen used his recent stop at the Vestavia Country Club on his Bulldog Club tours to take jabs at Chizik and Kiffin. That’s most likely harmless as neither will be able to extract a painful revenge this season. Auburn and mitippi tate set modern football back 50 years with their heinous 3-2 game last year and Auburn won’t be blowing anyone out this season. And the bulldogs don’t face Tennessee in 2009, so no vengeance there.

Then Mullen decided to take a page out of the official “moou handbook for pandering to fans” and refer to Ole Miss by another name.

Go ahead, ask the New Hampshire native if he's already been introduced to his new school's rivalry with Ole Miss.

"The team up north?" he said. "We call them the team up north. I don't like to cuss by using the word that you just used."

That’s all fine and well. He needs to save up his profanities for when the season starts. This year’s Egg Bowl score may not be much different than the glorious 45-0 trouncing last year. I have a feeling that Mr. Mullen will be making up for lost profanities by the time the 4th quarter runs down to 0:00 this year.

* The All-SEC Baseball teams were announced and a big Dead Guy congratulations go out to first-teamer Jordan Henry and second-teamers Drew Pomeranz and Scott Bittle. Honestly, the Rebels weren’t as well represented as they should’ve been. Leaving Jake Morgan off is ridiculous. His numbers were fantastic – 7 Saves and a 1.29 ERA – but his emergence let us move Bittle to the starting rotation which turned our conference season around. David Brandt views it this way:

But really, as hokey as it may sound, this team hasn't been about individual honors. Almost every Ole Miss play(er) has good stats, but very few of them (except guys like Henry and Bittle) made you look at the numbers and immediately crown them All-SEC.

But hey, at least Alabama landed 5 guys on the first team alone.

* This is from last week, but somehow I missed it: Tommy Tuberville will talk SEC Football on BusterSports.com in 2009. In addition to radio appearances and podcast, he’ll interact directly with SEC fans through chat rooms, message boards, and call in questions.

After being tarred and feathered and run out of Auburn, it will probably be nice to take a year off and merely talk about the conference he coached in for nearly a decade and a half.

* After one of the worst years in recent memory, SEC basketball continues to improve itself for the 2009-10 season. With an influx of new coaches, including John Calipari, the league is set to return to relevance next season and prominence the year after that.

Calipari’s signing of John Wall to Kentucky will land the ‘Cats in the top 10 preseason. As the “basketball face” of the league, UK’s recent struggles under Billy Gilispie marred not only the school’s reputation, but also the conference’s as a whole. While I’m certainly not a Calipari fan, there’s no denying his impact.

Monday Morning Munchies

I missed a busy week last week in my travels, but hopefully I can catch up here.

* After a pathetic showing in Oxford two series ago, the men’s baseball team rebounded and did what they needed to do against Arkansas in Fayetteville, clinching a share of the SEC overall championship. Congratulations are certainly in order for shaking off a rocky start to the season and rebounding to win the toughest conference in America. The 20-10 record is fantastic, obviously, but how nice would it have been to handle business against mitippi state one weekend earlier? Now, the Rebels tangle with previous #1 UGA on Wednesday in Hoover. The ‘Dawgs have been in a tailspin though since they were handled in Oxford last month. Hopefully that continues. More on that later this week. It sucks Scott Bittle won't be making the trip.

* So much for the snub providing the tennis team the motivation they needed to finally get over the hump… 2009 became yet another earlier than expected exit from the tournament for Billy Chadwick’s netters. It was certainly a season to remember, but it ended sooner than many thought it should.

* It’s been a busy week for the men’s hoops team as well. It was announced this week that Nick Williams, a fantastic freshman guard for Indiana University last year is transferring to Ole Miss. He’ll sit out 2009-10 and be eligible to play as a sophomore in 2010-11. He's a big strong guard that will almost certainly get better with a year of going against one of the best backcourts in the conference in practice.

* The Rebels will also be returning to Puerto Rico this year, playing in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic. It won’t take long for the Rebels to find out how good they are: The field includes Boston University, Dayton, George Mason, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas State, and Villanova.

* The Dagger takes a stab at ranking the SEC basketball coaches, and offers many of the same opinions I did a couple of months back. The difference is that every school has their coaches in place now, so allow me to express my opinions about the new guys.

It’s hard to argue with the hires made by Alabama and Kentucky. While both made big splashes with their hires, Kentucky landed the biggest catch, luring John Calipari from Memphis. I do have to disagree with the “Superelite” tag applied to Calipari. Coaches like Tom Izzo and Roy Williams are “Superelite." They’ve consistently won in the highest level of college basketball and have the banners hanging above their heads to prove it. Calipari is certainly elite, but until he wins in a Big6 conference consistently and cuts down the nets in early April, he’s not “Superelite."

Anthony Grant was primed to take over for Billy Donovan during his momentary lapse of reason a couple of years ago when he actually signed with the Orlando Magic. Now, he’s finally getting his crack at the SEC and it’s hard to see him not succeeding. He was an integral part of Florida’s national championship teams and UF hasn’t been the same since he left.

Mark Fox, UGA’s new coach, seems like a decent enough hire. He took over Nevada’s program when LSU head coach Trent Johnson left for Stanford. It’s certainly not a “wow” hire like the Bama and UK hires, but he appears to be a solid coach. If he can recruit/win in the SEC remains to be seen though.

* Then there’s this: College Football Network’s rankings of the SEC football coaches.

The Right Reverend Nutt comes in at #3, which seems a bit high to me. Not sure how he’s ranked ahead of Mark Richt. It must be tied to UGA’s disappointing (in relation to expectations) season last year while Nutt walked into a gold mine in Oxford. Whatever the situation is, it’s nice to see the positive press.

Time to get serious

Mentally unstable John Cohen and his band of mediocre bulldogs limp into Oxford this weekend, mostly hoping to give up less than 30 runs over the weekend. the bulldogs hit the ball well - they're 3rd in conference games with a .308 average - but don't pitch or field well, ranking last with a 7.79 ERA and a .959 fielding clip. The pitching staff is so bad, they've given up 74 more earned runs than the Rebels have despite playing one less game. Only Kentucky has given up more steals than the bulldogs have as well.

Good pitching and defense are what wins championships and the Rebels lead the pack in conference ERA (4.09) and rank 2nd in fielding (.959). The .294 average in conference games is not shabby either, ranking 6th. Even if Bittle can't go on Sunday, the bulldogs just don't have enough to win a game in this series if the Rebels show up to play.

While Bianco's overall record against state is just 19-18, this series hasn't been close since 2004, with the Rebels going 16-7 since then. If this team is serious about winning the division and the SEC overall crown, there is no excuse for not sweeping the bulldogs this weekend.

Here's hoping to a cumulative score of 35-15 with Cohen getting tossed out of Saturday's game for general douchebaggery.

* To go along with hammering state in baseball, we'll also get to end LSU's tennis season on their home court. Without digressing into bitterness regarding the regional location, the men will have an added chip on their shoulders this tournament, which may be exactly what they need.

* Just a friendly reminder to go ahead and plan your PTO for next week, as it's Notre Dame week on ESPN. Actually, I'd rather watch around the clock coverage of swine flu paranoia then sit through Fat Charlie trying to justify Notre Dame's relevance.

* Nice quick hitter on ESPN about the leaders that emerged on the defensive side of the ball this spring.

Is it Friday yet?

There’s a story today on NEMS360 today about the history between Ole Miss baseball coach Mike Bianco and mississippi state asshat John Cohen. It’s an interesting article spanning their days (Bianco at LSU/Cohen at msu) and coaching careers (Bianco at OM/Cohen at UK/msu). Nothing earth-shattering, but a pretty good read in a slow sporting news time like we’re in.

The NCAA released its 2009-10 Bowl Schedule. As usual, the New Orleans bowl kicks things off December 20 and all the festivities end with the MNC game January 7, 2010 in Pasadena. Also, be sure to check out the spelling of that school in Annapolis. Must be the military belly dancing school.

Wednesday Lunch Links

* The preseason recognitions keep flowing in for the 2009 Rebels both as a whole and as individual standouts. Bruce Feldman lists Patrick Trahan as one of his breakout players from the spring. It’s not surprising though, considering the way Trahan played at the end of the season last year. If he can add a little bit more upper body strength and keep his quickness, he’s got a chance to be special.

* The Quad is up to its 118th best team (AKA 3rd worst team) in the country and it’s the first with SEC ties – New Mexico State. In its first season since firing former UK coach Hal Mumme, the Lobos aren’t expected to do much... not that they did much while he was there. It was surprising how bad Mumme failed there, considering that Smart Football, one of the best sports blogs on the planet, called him possibly The Most Influential Coach of the Last Two Decades.

* There's already been a lot said and written about Daniel Hood, Lane Kiffin's latest signee at Tennessee. His story - actively assisting a 17-year old boy to rape his cousin with a plunger - is well publicized and everyone's got their opinions about this, and here's mine: You can save your “everyone deserves a second chance” line. Like Jamar Hornsby, Hood crossed a certain line that upstanding citizens rarely venture near and never cross.

It’s not like he was a young kid when he contributed to the raping of his cousin. By 13, you’ve got a good handle of right and wrong. How old do you have to be to know that stripping, binding, and raping your cousin is wrong? This was just four-five years ago. Kiffin and others can spin it how they want to, but this is a despicable signing, particularly for a school trying to distance itself from the late Fulmer-era arrest records. Neither he nor Jamar Hornsby should be anywhere near a football field come fall.

* Speaking of The Great Punkin, he apparently wants another crack at a head coaching job, possibly in the NFL. But without a mentor to stab in the back and force out, don't expect the NFL to give him a second thought, particularly when better SEC coaches - Spurrier, Saban, and possibly Petrino - all failed in the NFL.

Jevan Snead with Kirk Herbstriet

This has been around for a couple of days now, but it's worth checking out if you've missed it

Tuesday Tidbits

* It’s as though we’ve landed in some kind of bizarro world: College Football News offers the following Sugar Bowl projection: West Virginia vs Ole Miss. I’m just waiting for Kevin, Gene, Feldman, and Vargas to show up.

Assuming the SEC champion is No. 1 and off to the national championship, the Sugar Bowl will get the first choice of teams and it'll most certainly take the second best SEC team. Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, Georgia or even Florida; throw a dart and you might have the right SEC representative. Boise State might be the call if the Fiesta doesn't have an interest, but geographically is makes more sense for the Broncos to go to Glendale and the Big East champion, possibly West Virginia, to go to New Orleans. The Mountaineers stunned Georgia the last time they were in the Sugar, played in Atlanta in 2006.

* Shiny-headed blowhard Paul Finebaum has high praise for Gene Chizik’s "Tiger Prowl". While Finebaum admits it was a gimmick, it seems he’s putting way too much stock in it.

There was another important aspect to Tiger Prowl as well -- stoking the home fires. In politics, you garner votes by exciting your base. You toss them red meat and hear them roar. The Auburn fan base was spitting fire last week. However, I think the most important message of the week was that Auburn is going to make Alabama fight for every acre of real estate in the state.

To me, this is exactly like John McCain choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate last year. Sure it got the fan base rowdy for a while, but once the novelty wore off, it was a gimmick with little to no substance. I somehow doubt Nick Saban is overly concerned about Chizik and his limo rides.

* Chris Low has his SEC Spring Wrap up on his blog and the Rebels are featured prominently. His Ole Miss wrap up is pretty good too.

* Jermey Parnell has signed a free agent deal with the Saints. Yes, that Jermey Parnell. While there's very little chance he makes the team, you can't teach the size, strength, and athleticism that JP's got. Who knows? Maybe he'll be the next Antonio Gates, just as a DL. I certainly wish him the best. If he doesn't go down against UT in the SEC opener last year, we probably win that game and a handful more of games we lost in the early conference season last year.

* The Quad, the New York Times college sports blog, has started its annual countdown of the best teams in America #120 - #1. Western Kentucky brings up the rear for a 2nd straight year. While it’ll be early July before any of our SEC brethren show up, it’ll be fairly quickly when UAB and Memphis show up. And then there’s the other half of the non-conference schedule – Northern Arizona and SELA – which won’t show up at all, as they’re both 1AA. So we’ve got that going for us.

At least you're not Bracky Brett

Is there a worse job in the SEC right now than that of Bracky Brett, MSU athletic department compliance director? Apparently Dan Mullen and Rick Stansbury are engaging in some kind of NCAA shenanigans contest. Mullen landed what many thought would be the death blow, bringing The Walking NCAA Violation on campus to help coach players coach the Bulldog coaching staff.

But now, just weeks of sorting through that mess, Rick Stansbury is not to be outdone, landing big-man Renardo Sidney, whose backstory is so shady that even USC head coach Tim Floyd backed off of him after he had committed. And yes, the same Tim Floyd who brought in OJ Mayo through his World Wide Wes connections.

Brett isn't even sure he'll be able to play.

"We realize by simply signing him doesn't mean the process is over. We know there's a lot of questions to be answered. Any issues related to his amateurism or extra benefits will be part of our discussions with all parties in the very near future. By all parties, I mean the prospect, his family, the NCAA, the Southeastern Conference and everyone here at Mississippi State. We're not going to compromise the integrity of our institution. It's going to be an interesting couple of weeks. Or months."

This coming from the school that admitted Dontae' Jones.

Brooms on the Plains

The Rebels head southeast this weekend to the Plains to take on a mediocre Auburn baseball team that does very little well besides smash HRs. Their 97 long balls on the year is more than 2x the Rebels' 42, but that's no way to win consistently, as evidenced by their record.

If Ole Miss is serious about winning their first outright division title under Bianco, they need to handle business this weekend. It's hard to see the Tigers scoring too many runs against Pomeranz/Irwin/Bittle. I'll go ahead and predict the much needed sweep.