FINAL: Ole Miss 67 Miss. St. 63

Well, damn, I picked a four point win and look what happened. 

Hell, yeah, I'm bragging. Stansbury has never lost to Ole Miss at the Hump until today.

Let's let that sink in. The last time Ole Miss beat State in Starkville in the great game of basketball, Bill Clinton was in his second term as President of the USA. Good old 1998. I mean, just went into Starkghanistan, ripped the game away from them with less than 10 scholarship players. WOW. Get Andy Kennedy a new Cadillac for that game. At least another shirt, damn.

Terrico goes off for 18, Dahveeeed scores 16 and Zach Graham played one of his best games of the year with 13 points. The real story, however, as the score shows was the great defense that Ole Miss played: lockdown, condom-like defense. 

We stayed in a zone defense for the entire time most likely to save all our energy for the other end of the court. State played a good bit of man D, and our guys had to keep moving whenever on offense. 

Strangely enough, our height caused State a few problems as we got some hands/fingers in their eyes. For much of the game, Huertas(6'5''), Terrico(6'5''), Malcolm White(6'9''), Zach Graham(6'6'') and DeAundre Cranston(6'9'') were on the floor. Those are some damn long arms waving about and intimidating the 'Dogs.

Varnado was pretty much the only 'Dog beating the Rebels on the glass. He had 15 boards along with eight points. His inside presence was not dominant, but we didn't challenge him a lot with our big men. 

Our team is playing way above their heads, and no rational person could possibly think that the Rebels will continue on their streak all the way to the NCAA tournament. Personally, that's what I think it would take at this point. 

The NIT seems like a very real possibility for this team if they can edge out about five more wins. Surely, we can beat Georgia. Alabama should be a win as well. Maybe Auburn? State at home? 

The season has a long way to go, nine more games and then the SEC Tournament in Tampa. I'm predicting the Rebels win four more games and finish 16-14. Who knows? Georgia won the tournament last year, because no one really cares about basketball in the SEC. We might end up in the Big Dance after all. A broke clock is right twice a day, it could haaaaappen.

I'm just amazingly on fire with my predictions tonight, so Steelers by 12 tomorrow. 

Also, if you are in the area of North Mississippi, Memphis, basically less than three hours from Oxford. Get your ass in a seat on Wednesday. 

Egg Bowl: Basketball edition

Here at Le Cup, we try to push the envelope as far as our out of the box thinking in coverage of Ole Miss sports. 

However, there are two things I can guarantee I will never do while writing for this blog:

1.) Take the Lord's name in vain

2.) Pick Mississippi State to beat Ole Miss in a sporting event

That's right. Even though our basketball team has dealt with more health issues than an episode of ER, we played like we wanted to win against Kentucky and today I expect a similar effort. 

Not because Mississippi State basketball has as much prestige as Kentucky...that's a laughable notion. Terrico and Malcolm White saw their stellar play on Sportscenter during their last game and realized they can play and be dominant in this conference. Plus, I just really hate Mississippi State with every cell in my body.

Playing at the Hump is not easy, however. I've witnessed firsthand our Rebels get pounded in Starkville while the maroon and white fans made it deafening to play on their court. Our young players are going to get experience up to their necks today against State.

Their student section is planning to dress like Arabs with turbans, mustaches, etc. and the band is going to play "You've Lost that Loving Feeling" to poke fun at Andy Kennedy. Bring on the motivation, that's what I say. I would hope some of our students would do the same thing if Rick Stansbury was in the news. 

I've always felt basketball is a game about who wants to win. If you scrape and claw every play on defense, you can keep any game close enough to pull off an upset. State is 14-6 (4-1 SEC) in the SEC while Ole Miss is 11-9 (2-4 SEC). Two of the home losses the Bulldogs endured were to fundamentally sound mid-major teams: Charlotte and San Diego. 

Ole Miss played very fundamentally sound against the Wildcats, and they need every break to go their way to win today. 

Mississippi State's line-up:

F Jarvis Varnado- 13 ppg, arms like a windmill

F Ravern Johnson- 12.5 ppg, star of yet to be released sitcom "That's So Ravern"

G Barry Stewart- Jr. shoots nearly 36% from behind the arc

G Dee Bost- Frosh from NC has nearly two assists for every turnover

G Phil Turner- averaged 15.5 ppg against 'Bama and Vandy at the Hump

Terrico, Malcolm and DAHVEED need to go off for 60 again. If the three's aren't dropping though, we're in for a very long game.

Final prediction: Ole Miss 74 MSU 70

The Silent Period Begins

Not really... The coaches still have until Sunday to speak with recruits. But, here at Le Cup, we're not going to talk recruiting until signing day. Sure, we'll let you know what the Rivals, Scouts, and ESPN's of the world are saying but we're not going to spread anything that we've heard.

Face it: we've all heard a dozen tidbuggets and we won't ascertain the truth concerning them for a while. There's no point marinating in it. We've heard rumors which would lead us to believe that the Rebels will make several recruiting coups and pull in some surprises come Wednesday. We've also heard rumors which would lead us to believe that we're going to fare incredibly poorly once all is said and done. We don't know what to believe and, don't kid yourself, neither do you. Basketball talk and such is up next. We'll liveblog the hell out of this site on Wednesday.

Ciao. Have a helluva weekend, Rebels.

All Day Rebs Best Trojans

Not surprisingly, the Ole Miss Men's Tennis Team won their first team match of the year against the Troy Trojans earlier today.  I snuck out of the Gillom Center after Devin Britton, who was, indeed, playing in the #1 spot, defeated some German to clinch the meet (let's celebrate America, right?).  The Rebels won the doubles point, though our nationally top-ranked team of Bram ten Berge and Jonas Berg won their set with a slightly disappointing score of 8-6.

Calle Norberg was lights-out today, pwning some Latin American dude 6-1, 6-0.  Jonas was a bit of a slow starter, but turned on the after-burners to win his match 7-5, 6-1.  Devin Britton, though, staged an epic comeback in his second set, recovering from 3-5 to take the match 6-4, 7-5.  After the win was assured, I bolted leaving Bram in control at the #4 spot, and Otto Sauer and one of the Germans just starting at 6 and 5, respectively.

Halpert mentioned, in jest perhaps, that things get a little rowdy at tennis matches.  What Halpert underestimates is the phenomenal amount of caffeine that surely must be consumed by Lyon Chadwick, third-year law student and son of Coach Billy Chadwick.  ACC basketball fans, Central American soccer mobs, and Tom Cruise have nothing on this guy.  Dare I even mention the perpetual-intensity machine Mr. Chadwick was when feeding off Robby Poole.  So, yeah, Halpert, if you want some legitimate Ole Miss enthusiasm that will make the brain-trust over at the Colonel Reb Foundation rethink their own devotion to Rebel Nation, get yourself down to the Gillom Center (or, when we move outdoors, the Palmer-Salloum Tennis Center) and see what real fannage looks like.

The League of Nations plays again on Saturday in a non-conference match against Kentucky in the first round of the ITA National Tournament at 10:00.

This just in: Pat Patterson is Hilarious

Erik Skinnett, the staff writer for CrimsonConfidential.com, wrote this Tidbugget (Yancy's got Tidbits,Neal's got Nuggets, we at the Cup have TIDBUGGETS.... which are really just us linking to other folks' sites) on Pat Patterson. It's the typical MadLibs kinda article with the whole "oh yeah I like [COACH] and [PLAYER] so I could really see myself playing for [UNIVERSITY][TEAM NAME] and wearing that [COLOR] uniform" feel to it. However, it does have this quote by Patterson which he uttered while speaking of his recruitment to Tennessee's Ed Orgeron:

“He’s a good guy,” Patterson said of Orgeron. “He just talks too loud.”

Picturing Pat Patterson speaking in what is an undeniably thuggin' country accent say "he jus talk to damn lout" with a goofy, twisty smirk on his face makes me giggle. Pat, Hurricane Orgeron heard that. Board up Noxubee county now, or you're toast.

Since GOJC did one, I guess I'll do a recruiting post as well...

Ghost's recruiting post addressed something that has been on my mind a good bit as well. I wrestled with whether or not recruiting rankings mattered for a while. Then I read this article from Athlon sports. To me, it's the most convincing argument that stars are important and rankings are accurate that I have seen.

The fact that 40% of five stars are drafted whereas only 10% of four stars, 3% of three stars, and less than 1% of two stars are speaks volumes. Sure, there are 64 times as many two stars as there are five stars and the draft only selects 252 players per year, but look at the stats. Last year, only five more two stars were selected in the first 100 selections than five stars.

Ok, now sure. The five-star to two-star difference is easily understandable. Five stars are fast, big, strong, etc. Two stars likely only had one or two offers. Let's look at the difference between four stars and three stars. A common argument is that the ranking services generally do a good job selecting who the 25 to 30 best players are in the country (five stars) but after that, it's basically like me throwing darts at a dart board (actually, it's more like GOJC throwing darts at a dart board. I own him. That guy blows.) The statistics from last draft class don't support that though. Even though there were 2.54 times as many three stars as there were four stars, one more four star was selected than three stars within the top 100 picks in the draft.

The difference between four stars and five stars selected in the first 99 picks (12 five stars and 30 four stars) can be explained based solely on the fact that there are ten times as many four stars as five stars.

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is that there are players like Patrick Willis, Mike Wallace, etc. who defy the rules of ratings and the star system, but there are also a lot of players like Brandon Thomas, Leron King and Gary Albury.

And before you go saying that college success and NFL draft status are not the same, let me say that I agree with you. However, if a player can play in the NFL, he can play in college too.

That being said, many people I know have asked me to break down our current class and identify which players I'm happy with. I will do that quickly. Each list is in alphabetical order.

Players I'm thrilled about:
1. Craig Drummond

Players I'm happy with:
1. Michael Brown
2. Ryan Campbell
3. Tyler Campbell
4. Frank Crawford
5. Jamar Hornsby
6. Dele Juniad
7. Artice Kellam
8. Emmanuel McCray
9. Korvic Neat
10. Andrew Ritter
11. Charles Sawyer
12. Rodney Scott
13. Tim Simon
14. Bo Tillman

Players I'm ok with:
1. Logan Clair
2. Terrell Grant
3. Gabriel Hunter
4. Mike Thomas
5. Demond Washington
6. Cameron Whigham

Players I'd like to see walk-on:
1. Marcus Berg
2. Stephen Houston
3. Demarcus Knight
4. Montez Phillips
5. Eric Smiley
6. Evan Swindall

Overall, I think this class is alright. I like the fact that we got a good number of players in which I'm interested, but I sure hope we can close with a few more players with which I am thrilled. There aren't a lot of players left on our board to whom that status would apply, but I'll list a few.

1. Marlon Brown
2. Raymond Cotton
3. Bobby Massie
4. Patrick Patterson
5. DT Shackleford

If we can sign two of those, the class is good. Three and the class is great. I also hope we sign Corey Gaines and Alex Williams.

Recruiting Winds Down

It's almost over. Praise God/Allah/Yaweh.

Dr. Saturday has some compelling evidence that recruiting rankings are a load of shit while, at the same time, not a load of shit. The two part series (who knows, maybe a 3rd is around the corner) can be found here and here. There really are two camps with regards to these reruiting rankings: the "it's bullshit" clan and the "it's the word of Rivals for the people of Rivals" clan.

Clan number 1 says "look at Notre Dame vs. Utah's recruiting rankings" or "look at the Brent Schaeffers of the world." Clan 2 says "look at USC, Texas, or LSU's recruiting rankings while telling me that Tim Tebow's 5 stars were a crock of crap."

Funny thing is, they're both right. That's what you get with inconsistency. You'll get right and wrong. You'll get good and bad. Rarely one can't exist alongside the other but, as any college football fan can tell you, sense and logic take a backseat to drama when recruiting season is on.

We've got an upcoming TLV piece and we may write it on this newfangled recruiting drama and obsession. It's been on our minds lately but the stress of "secret commits," "insider sources," and "employment" have kept us from blogging it.

The dead period begins on Sunday. This, as we all know, won't put an end to the recruiting talk, but it sure as hell will give us an excuse to ignore it.

"Hey, hey, Ghost, did you hear about Bobbie Massie and my secret source and..."

"Shhhh. Damn. Go away. Shit's on TV right now."

That's all you'll get outta me* until signing day.

One last thing: I'm sure you've all seen this, but Rivals has a good piece on Houston Nutt's recruiting. It's fairly well written but (for obvious reasons), quite vague. The most redeeming quality of the work is, by far, this very rare occurrence of the "Hellfire and Brimstone" version of the Right Reverend.

Repent for your fumbles!

*Me as in The Ghost of Jay Cutler. I can't deal with this crap anymore thanks to Da Coach O. Juco All-American is 'bout-it 'bout-it though, he'll likely fill y'all in.

Men's Tennis Makes Home Debut Tomorrow

The Ole Miss Internationals will play their first matches in Oxford for the 2008-2009 season tomorrow against the vaunted unoriginal Troy Trojans, who will be fairly outmatched (and likely outdressed) by Billy Chadwick's cadre of continentals.

As they generally are, the team is highly ranked and expected to win their eighth straight SEC West Championship.  The Trojans, meanwhile, have obviously not yet figured out how to recruit the most talented foreigners to the Deep South.  They have met South Carolina and Alabama this year in team competition, losing all six singles points and the doubles point to USC and taking only the #6 singles against the Crimson Tide.

Bram ten Berge, senior All-American, will likely start as the top-seed single for the Rebels, and Mississippi native Devin Britton will be making his debut in Oxford.

Troy ought to be no more than an exhibition for the Rebels, who I confidently expect to win 6-1 or 7-0.

Rebels Picked to Host Regional, Potential Super

According to Baseball America via ESPN, The Diamond Rebs will once again host a regional and will be the nations 7th seed in the postseason. The predicted regional will see the Rebels play against the Hilltoppers, the Gamecocks (Jr.), and The MUSTARD Buzzerdz!

I'm sure that once Brian Walker's Elbow or One Man to Beat decide to get off of their asses, they'll give you some more in-depth baseball analysis. That's just not my thing.

"Wait, you don't like baseball?"

No, I never said that. It's just not my thing to blog. I make fun of people, write snarky letters on behalf of our defensive linemen, draw goofy pictures, etc. I'm a real renaissance man, but Baseball coverage just isn't in that repertoire.

Happy Mustache Wednesday!

EDSBS gives Jaylon Snead the love he deserves. While Orson may have tipped his hat our way, we've got to turn around and tip it to SSMUND for the suggestion.

You'll get that username back one day, I swear it. Thanks and Happy Mustache Wednesday!

Rebel Roundup - ESPN.com Linkage

ESPN's Coverage of Last Night's Game - Click here for a full recap with video highlights. Here's an interesting factoid which I gleaned from that recap: Ole Miss' last basketball victory over the Wildcats was on January 20, 2001. You know what else happened on that day?

Yep, it was that long ago. The Rebels last defeated the Wildcats in a pre-9/11 world. Wrap your brain around that one.

The Recruiting Derby Heats Up - Bruce Feldman lays out the ten most intriguing recruiting battles still out there, and the Rebels are in two of them. The first is us vs. Bama vs. Georgia for Bobbie Massie and the second is us vs. Florida vs. Georgia vs. Tennessee for Marlon Brown. He actually seems somewhat hopeful about our chances with Brown.

Nutt, Petrino Have Solid Recruiting Classes - That's what Billy Tucker (who?) is saying. While this class is far from both "perfect" and "complete," we're likely to pick up some big time talent come signing day on top of the commitments we've already earned. I've always felt ESPN was always a bit on the "fringe" with regards to recruiting rankings and evaluation. Their incredibly high rankings of oftentimes otherwise lowly or moderately ranked prospects demonstrates this fairly well. Still, you've gotta take it where you can get it. Thanks, ESPN. We don't know why you (outside of Mark May) have decided to love Ole Miss all of the sudden, but we dig it.

I Just Had To

The Price is Wrong, bitch.

EXCLUSIVE

Billy Gillispie has filed a complaint in Lafayette County Circuit Court against the University of Mississippi. Reprinted below.

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF LAFAYETTE COUNTY
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

Billy Gillispie
Plaintiff

v.

Andy Kennedy
Defendant

Comes now Billy Gillispie, the plaintiff, in and through counsel and sues Andy Kennedy, defendant, and shows unto the court:

1. On January 27, 2008, defendant did unlawfully, intentionally, and without provocation or justification commit an assault and battery upon the plaintiff in that he, the said Kennedy, whooped that ass in the Tad Pad like it was his job, lawya!

2. By reason of the foregoing, plainiff sustained certain injuries, among which were being em-effing-barrassed on national television. OOOOHHH JAAAMMMM!!!!!, from which he suffered both in body and mind.

3. As a result of the infliction of injuries upon the plaintiff by the defendant, plaintiff was caused to incur certain medical and hospital expenses, among which were visine for the said Gillispie having to cry his eyes out like a girl! LIKE A GIRL!!!1!!

WHEREFORE, plaintiff demands judgment against the defendant in the sum of one night with Kimber, no questions asked Dollars as compensatory damages.

A. Rupp

Attorney for the Plaintiff

Final: Ole Miss 85 Kentucky 80

I'll be the first to say it: I was dead wrong about this game. I thought it would take a 60 point performance by Huertas and Terrico White combined to win this game.

Surprisingly, Malcolm and Terrico White along with Huertas scored over 60 in the victory.

When Ole Miss hits the floor with Terrico White, David Huertas and Chris Warren next year, we're going to take down a lot of teams. 

Malcolm White "grabbed up his nuts and played like a man" as the legendary sound bite Bam Doyne used to say.

Everyone thought the Rebels were doomed when they came out of the tunnel to face the Big Blue, but this group wanted to prove what is in store for the future of Ole Miss basketball. These players are gaining valuable experience for next season. Even if they only marginally improve, the leadership and skills of Chris Warren and Eniel Polynice plus the team I saw on the floor tonight has me thinking about at least the Sweet Sixteen next year. Obviously, Warren and EP need to come back 100% from their injuries. 

There's plenty of big IF's, but let's enjoy this win for now.

I don't think this game means "WE GOIN' TO DA 'SHIP." We'll probably struggle to win four more games and break even for the season. We're not in a Disney movie, so let's get back in touch with reality shortly after a raucous celebration.

Postgame Notes

1. That felt good. This team is inconsistent, that's for sure and to be expected. All things considered, I'm alright with that. Inconsistency suggests spurts of good, which is exactly what happened tonight.

2. We started pretty strong defensively and against the defensive glass. We made some lucky shots and missed some easy ones. Overall, when you consider all of the misfortunes of this team we performed admirably.

3. Our strategy defensively was pretty interesting. Triple-teams inside, the occasional press. I think this is why we were rebounding better than one would expected.

4. Will Bogan, please sack up. Good gravy. You look far too nervous to be out there. You're like an episode of Murder She Wrote: slow, predictable, and too white. You'd get the ball with clear open shots and just move the ball to the next fella around the arc. C'mon. I mean, you missed your free throws in a no-pressure situation. That's why they're "free," Will.

5. Terrico White is going to be very, very good. He made shots from all over the court and had a put down an improbable dunk among a half-dozen Wildcat arms. The ESPN announcers were gushing over him and rightfully so.

6. The other White, Malcolm, also had a monster game. Badass blocks. Badass dunks. If he could ever do any of that with consistency he'd be all-SEC.

7. It's Tuesday night in Oxford, MS. What in the hell are all of you people busy doing? Bake sales? Choir recitals? Insanely infections bouts of prolapsed rectums? Get your asses to the damned basketball game. I know we're having a nightmare season with Kennedy's War on Terror and a horrible plague of weakened ligaments and I know you would have been all 'bout-it 'bout-it last season but, c'mon. Kentucky is in town. We're on ESPN. IT'S TUESDAY! What a damned embarrassment.*

*I live a convenient 14 hour drive from the Tad-Pad. Don't you fuss at me. If I were still an Oxonian I would have been there.

Some Afternoon RebelRoundup, Perhaps?

Chris Low Lays out our Recruiting Needs - I'm with him on this one. We need some more beef on the lines. It looks like we're getting the defensive side of that taken care of, but offensively this class looks like it could leave much to be desired up front. Of course, if one Robert G. Massie, Esq. commits to us, I'll sing a different tune.

The MWC Wants an Automatic BCS Bid - That's neat, MWC. It's not gonna happen, but way to give it the ol' college try! Let's be honest; this is all about money. If you aren't going to put asses in the seats, whether those seats be in the stadium or in front of a television, the BCS isn't going to pay attention to you.

Wait a Tick?! Football Causes Concussions!?! - While I am being a smartass with the title, the CNN has a pretty interesting piece on the fates of far too many NFL players. It'll make you almost want to keep your kids from playing football.... almost.

Some Morning YouTube, Perhaps?

First off, we've got some videos of Oher and P. Jerry put together by DraftParty, a YouTube highlights reel of sorts for potential early-round draftees.




Next we have Craig Drummond's 2007 highlights. Why 2007? Well, I'm pretty sure he sat out most of 2008 with an injury. When you consider the fact that he was an Army All-American this past year, you've got to assume he earned that distinction based mostly on his impressive Junior campaign.

Damn. We've got ourselves a good one. In the video, you'll see what looks like a highschool senior who snuck onto the field for a few JV games. That's Drummond.



His talent is raw, but he's got an excellent frame and incredible potential. The first few minutes of highlights all seem to come from the exact same game which, if that indeed be the case, truly demonstrates how dominant Drummond is on the highschool level.

My biggest issue with that video was the actual video itself. Who in the hell put that together? Flying cassette tapes? Wacky, 3D popcorn graphics? C'mon, highschool highlight tapes can do without all of that frilly nonsense.

Unless, of course, Craig Drummond himself put it together.. If that's the case then Bravo, good sir! Well done!

Ole Miss vs Kentucky: Could we just play HORSE?

Ole Miss is struggling on the court, and they're at the breaking point where postseason play is not a possibility unless the Rebels win the remainder of their games.

Obviously, a win over Kentucky would bring this team's confidence to a new level and could get things rolling. The Wildcats are running game on the rest of the SEC sporting an undefeated conference record. 

Lest we forget Big Blue basketball in 2007-2008 as they fell to teams like San Diego, Gardner Webb and UAB. These aren't your Dad's Kentucky basketball players. They lost to VMI for God's sake.

Winning at Tennessee by 18 was one of the most impressive games I have seen an SEC team play all season(yes, including our 12 point win against Nicholls State).

Wildcat lineup:

G Jodie Meeks- averages over 26 ppg and could go for 40 against any of our guards

G DeAndre Liggins- Freshman who has had streaks of turnovers

F Patrick Patterson- not the UM recruit, but second leading scorer

F Perry Stevenson- already tied his block total(46) from last season

F Ramon Harris- he's from Alaska, that's all the interesting information I could find; I searched for a picture of Tyler Hansbrough just to get a linked picture of the kid

Terrico White and David Huertas need to score a combined 60 points for Ole Miss to have a chance in the game. We'll most likely get out rebounded or "outphysicalled" by a veteran UK team. I'm prepared for a long night of ESPN commentators bringing up Andy Kennedy's horrible year off the court, our list of injuries which is at an inquisition like length, and how good Kentucky's fans travel on the road.

Our guys will give a great effort, because it's Kentucky, they're on national television and they'll have a decent crowd behind them. If it is close at half-time and they can keep Kentucky out of a transition game, the Rebels could keep it close.

Final prediction: Kentucky 83 Ole Miss 68

Btw, 25 days until baseball season. All praise Michael Guerrero.

Potential defensive line class...

I'm busy roughly all day now, but I do have time to share something. I know it has probably been brought up on some message board, but look at the potential defensive line class we have.

DE Craig Drummond - 6'5" 260 - Offers from USC, Florida, Miami, Ohio State, etc. - Army All-American - Film looks incredible
DT Bo Tillman - 6'7" 295 - #3 player in the state last year - Film is good. Disrupts tons of plays.
DT Eric Smiley - 6'5" 280 - early offers from the likes of USC before backing off due to grade problems - Haven't seen any film
DT Corey Gaines - 6'0" 275 - Army All-American - Film is of offensive line, shows good feet and speed
DE Cameron Whigham - 6'3" 230 - Auburn offer - Film shows lots of speed, not enough power

Look, there's still work to be done with Eric Smiley (grades) and Corey Gaines (choosing us), but I like what I see. Before the season started, I pinpointed the d-line as a position of necessity in recruiting. We have filled that necessity. I am still hoping for one more DE to help replace Hardy, Tillman and Stephens. I think Alex Williams would be perfect. If we can sign him, we've gone a long way in maintaining our dominance on the defensive line.

Rebel Roundup: Case of the Mondays

Monday sucks. It's science. Here are some links to keep you busy this horrible, horrible morning. Perhaps posts of substance are to come this afternoon.


Mock Drafts - There are lots of them. I guess I'll go with the most reputable mock draft I've stumbled upon this morning and that would be the mock first round put together by Don Banks of Sports Illustrated. In his draft, Mike Oher is picked up by the Raiders (bye bye, career) and Peria Jerry is picked up by the Falcons.


Andy Staples is a Professional Dumbass - In attempting to predict where the few remaining uncommitted blue-chippers will sign, Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples had this to say about Patrick Patterson:

Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora pulled a shocker last year when he convinced receiver DeAndre Brown to come to Hattiesburg despite offers from some of the SEC's top teams. Could Fedora do it again? He'll have to beat out Ole Miss, Alabama and Tennessee.

Andy, if by some bizarre, off chance you stumble upon this blog and read this, let it be known that Larry Fedora didn't do shit to land DeAndre Brown. DeAndre Brown ended up in Hattiesburg because LSU and Ole Miss dropped him like a hot potato after seeing the difficulties it would require to get him qualified to attend an SEC school. Yes, the SEC has higher academic standards than the CUSA. They're not much higher, but high enough to keep him away. Patrick Patterson will not enroll in the University of Southern Mississippi. Hell, he may never set foot in the city of Hattiesburg ever again and no, I wouldn't blame him if he didn't.


Alright, so Maybe He's not THAT Stupid - Perhaps I was a bit harsh on Andy. Andy, redeem yourself... Ah, nice work! I'm certain he did not do all of the number crunching himself but his piece on the state of recruiting is intriguing for any stats nerd. There is even a piece which breaks down the number of BCS recruits by state during the 2004-2008 time span. Florida leads the pack in both total number of recruits and recruits per capita. Mississippi is 3rd in recruits per capita. In fact, the states in which the SEC schools are located have 9 of the top 22 spots. The breakdown goes something like this:

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Mississippi
4. Georgia
6. Louisiana
9. South Carolina
12. Arkansas
19. Tennessee
22. Kentucky

Scattered among the SEC schools are the usual suspects (Ohio, Texas, Hawai'i, DC, California, et al). On the very bottom of the list lies Vermont who apparently has only contributed one BCS football player over the last four years. Alaska has produced double that over the same time period.


Craig Drummond, Jr. Commits... Maybe - Scout and Rivals both report that Craig Drummond, Jr., the Army All-American defensive end, has committed to the Rebels. Inside the Grove, however, has a completely different story. Both camps can't be lying. Either he's committed or he isn't. Perhaps Yancy and Neal's sources are not as reliable as they would like to believe. Perhaps Ty is being toyed with by the recruits for sending them text messages late at night on a Sunday (Ty, they're expecting booty calls, not overbearing ESPN reporters). If I were a bettin' man, I'd say that the young man is Oxford bound, but this is definitely not a chicken that should be counted before it's hatched.


Jaylon Snead: the most Badass SEC Dad - Inside the Grove has a Q&A with Jaylon Snead, the father of Jevan Snead. It really doesn't matter what it says, or really whether or not you read it because Jaylon Snead is a real American hero. Look at that mustache. And that hat, damn; how many people can actually convincingly wear a big-ass black cowboy hat. Good Lord in Heaven, sir. You are the envy of many, many men.

Jaylon Snead - proud father, badass

Rebels at the Senior Bowl

Peria Jerry, Mike Oher, Ashlee Palmer and Mike Wallace all represented the Rebs in last night's Senior Bowl. The South handily defeated the North (TSWRA whooooooo!) to the tune of 35-18. Mike Wallace pulled in a 39 yard touchdown pass from West Virginia's Pat White and Peria Jerry recovered a Rhett Bomar fumble in the North endzone for 6. According to our Senior Bowl correspondents, Oher was good for the most part except for a holding call and Palmer had very few if any opportunities to make a play on defense. They also told us that Mobile is scary with all of the drunks, hurricanes, and Leprechauns hiding in strategic-ass trees.

The game's stats can be found here and the highlights here.

Also, did everybody else know before last night that Mike Wallace was going to be in this game, or am I just out of the loop? He definitely improved whatever draft stock he had.

Rebels Ready to Handle 'Cocks On the Road...WTF?

Seriously, South Carolina, change your mascot. It's fantastic to see COCKS on a hat with the small lettering underneath "University of South Carolina," but your name causes headline problems for the rest of the SEC. 

Here's a few suggestions for the South Carolinians. You could be the South Carolina Palmetto's, then we could entitle our post "Rebels Ready to Chop Down Palmetto's," or the South Carolina Salamanders, as they are the state amphibians or possibly even the South Carolina Peaches giving a nod to the movie "A League of Their Own" and the Rockford Peaches, but I know how the state of South Carolina is emphatic about their cock fighting. I've been in the smarmy, dusty halls of Charleston where brown fellows loudly proclaim the ability of their rooster. Okay, that was Afghanistan, but still...basically the same thing.

South Carolina basketball is much like the rest of the SEC: success marked with disappointment. The only somewhat embarrassing loss came to the College of Charleston in overtime for the 'Cocks as they tore through non-conference opponents like North Carolina Central, Presbyterian and Wofford.

The 'Cocks are ensuring their chances to live up to their program's tradition: NIT CHAMPS!!! The whistles go WOOO!!!! After losing a coach who looked like he opened the ark of the covenant, South Carolina is undoubtedly off to a great start including a buzzer beating victory against #24 Florida at the Colonial Life Arena.

Ole Miss is on cruise control with a 10-8 (1-3 SEC) record as even a NIT berth seems distant at this point in the season. Knee injuries have not been kind to this year's roster, but that's no excuse as the Rebels have a lack of depth during Andy Kennedy's third year as a coach. It's not to say that the Rebels should be to the point of a Duke or North Carolina program, but if there's a few injuries, Ole Miss fans should feel confident they will be able to make the postseason. 

I have seen Devan Downey, and he is good. The junior guard for the Gamecocks leads the team with nearly 20 points per game. There's four other South Carolina players averaging double digit scoring, which means the Ole Miss "zone defense"(see: shit that doesn't work) will be stretched to the brink as the home court advantage makes it a game that isn't close.

Final score prediction: South Carolina 80  Ole Miss 64

P.S. Gentleman Jack contributed to this report of Ole Miss basketball.

Lookin' for some Ole Miss Recruiting News?

You could try your usual sources of Yancy, Neal, or Chase/Ty, but why not try something new? Yes, now you can get your recruiting news from Cletus, Jedidiah, or even Stupid McJackass.

Those are three completely different Razorback message boards containing multiple threads about the Ole Miss program. These threads were not hard to find as all of them were literally on each website's respective first page of listed threads. These postsers are especially focused on our recruiting and recruiting rankings because, if you can't beat 'em on the field, you might as well try to "beat" 'em on the first Wednesday in February.

It seems that the Arkansas Razorbacks have begun to pay more attention to the Ole Miss football program than most Ole Miss fans. When you consider the facts that

A) Most Ole Miss fans really don't follow the program at all
B) Moonshine makes folks angry, bitter, and agressive
C) Methamphetamines cause days-long stints of insomnia

it really isn't too terribly surprising. Ole Miss fans are far too carefree while Arkansas fans are far too obsessive. One group of fans fancy this as some kind of social event, the other equates it to a bloodsport.

The only thing these two groups have in common is that both of them are trying to prove a point. The Arkansas fans are (maybe) trying to prove to everyone outside of NWA that they're not the ones being stupid and that Houston Nutt really is as awful as they say. We Rebels are still trying to prove to everyone in NWA that we don't give a shit about their opinions.

Nope. Not even one shit. Hell, we don't even give a half of a shit.

I guess my biggest beef with all of these message board users is that they're all so self-congratulatory. They're mostly comprised of a bunch of people who are bored at work and, as haters of their own lives, would simply like someone to validate their opinions every half-hour or so.

Talk around the "water cooler" in Little Rock

Will this EVER end?

Rebel Roundup: Friday Morning Linkage (EDIT - 2 More!)

Hardy Undergoes Another Foot Surgery - Greg Hardy, emo poet and destroyer of galaxies, will miss Spring practice but should be healthy enough to participate in fall drills after Wednesday's foot surgery. For those of you who may be concerned that Greg is going to miss all of Spring practice, I say don't be. He doesn't need it.

Does "the Curse" Extend that Far? - Our Men's tennis team has been picked to win the SEC by the conference's coaches. The Rebels, ranked #9 in America, earned 7 first place votes out of a possible 11 (I doubt coaches are allowed to vote for their own team). Go get 'em, you Nordic warriors you.

Construction on Baseball Stadium Nearing Completion - So, maybe it'll be done on time after all. The Ernie LaBarge Bullpen Club has a photo gallery of the construction's progress here.

Four More Years! For More Years! - What would a Houston Nutt inaugural address look like? Well, our amigos at Friends of the Program have speculated and, as always, hit the nail on the head. Giggity, indeed.

Tay-B Gets Crunk 25 Days a Week, Suffers Gunshot Wound - Since he's not dead, a lot of folks have been making jokes (if the bullets were footballs he wouldn't have been hurt, etc.) but you've still gotta feel bad for the former Rebel wideout. Godspeed, you tall, fast, concrete-handed squire.

Congress Introduces a bill to Kinda-Sorta Ban the BCS - I mean, they can't "ban" it, but they can prohibit the promotion of the BCS as a method of determining a national championship... maybe. I'm still confused as to how this fits into the Constitutional role of our legislative branch. Hey, Congress, don't you have a GTMO to close or maybe some taxes to raise or some shit? Stay out of our sport you overpaid hacks.

Dwight K. Schrute, Landshark

All Ole Miss fans who watched the Office earlier tonight thought the exact same thing when they saw this:

Post Bowl SEC Power Poll

Linky here, graphic below. Hotty Toddy. LMAO @ State Leghumpers haha!!1

The Ghost of Jay Cutler's Recruit Wishlist

I try not to get too worked up over recruiting. I was burnt out by all of the recruiting talk we had to endure through the Orgeron "era" and, to avoid more Joe McKnight style heartbreaks, I keep my fair distance from the Rivals and Scout pages. That doesn't mean that I don't follow it altogether; I'm simply not a stargazing junkie. As a casual follower of Ole Miss football recruiting, here are the few remaining Ole Miss prospects that I honestly hope we can land.



1. Quarterback Raymond Cotton - I think the Rebels will earn Raymond Cotton's signature on National Signing Day. While several scouts feel that Cotton needs work on deveolping consistent mechanics and is not quite ready for a dropback style of offense (played primarily out of the shotgun in highschool), Cotton has proven that he's got all of the physical tools necessary to become an SEC quarterback. He's tall (6'4"), has large hands, and has both a strong arm and set of legs. Cotton has earned a reputation as an aggressive scrambler who rarely backs down from contact. Originally committed to Auburn, Cotton opened up his recruiting once more after Tuberville and his staff were removed from the plains of Alabama. We've heard several rumors that he's already privately committed to our coaching staff. Since Auburn recently accepted the commitment of another quarterback and since our coaching staff does not appear to be recruiting another quarterback, there is a strong possibility of this being true. Still, keep your fingers crossed because, as we all know, crazier things have happened.

ESPN.com has some video of Cotton on their recruiting page.

2. Left Tackle Bobbie Massie - We've also been hearing rumors that Bobbie Massie has already made a super-duper-secret commitment to the Rebel coaching staff. While we've got some good sources who we trust, we've also got the same type of secret commitment rumors involving Keiland Williams, Kenny Ashley, and Joe McKnight fresh on our memories so we're not believing it until we see it. Massie is an absolutely gigantic offensive tackle prospect out of Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. Rivals.com lists Massie as standing a solid 6'8" inches tall and weighing in at 335 pounds (or, approximately 3/4 of a metric fuckton). If the Rebel staff is somehow able to bring Massie to Oxford, they will have accomplished a major recruiting coup, beating out Alabama and Georgia for the prep star's signature. He would obviously be geared to eventually fill in the huge vacancy left by Michael Oher at Left Tackle.
On a lighter note, Whiskey Wednesday thinks Massie looks like a cabbie. If you sorta picture him wearing a shitty hat or something then, yeah, I can see it. Having that been said, he's definitely not the kind of cabbie Andy Kennedy would consider assaulting.

3. Wide Receiver(s) Reuben Randle/Marlon Brown/Pat Patterson - Of course, you'd love to have them all, but any one out of these three would be a huge pickup for the Rebs. All three of them have excellent size (6'3" at the shortest) and have been racking up postseason accolades like crazy. All three of them are regarded as the top football prospects in their respective states (LA, TN, and MS) and are obviously coveted by anyone who can take them. If I were a bettin' man, I'd say Randle is Baton Rouge bound. Brown, a Memphis native, would like to stay close to home, which is why Ole Miss is still very much in the mix for his signature. However, he visit's Tennessee soon and the Recruitzilla and his hypnotic stare will be hard to deny. Patterson is likely to commit to hte Rebels, but the Crimson Tide are still pressing hard for the Noxubee County star.
Hey, you three, I've got a message for you: Jevan Snead>Jordan Jefferson>Nick Stephens>Whatever Bama-bangs havin' kid will be under center in Tuscaloosa. If you want to have a real quarterback getting the ball to you then Oxford is the place to be.

4. Defensive End Craig Drummond Jr. - A current commit to Ron Zook's Illinois program, Drummond will be visiting Oxford this weekend. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Rebels began pursuing the Chicago native and Army All-American very recently. Rumor has it that he would like to get a head-start on college and football by enrolling early and Ole Miss gives him a better opportunity than Illinois to do so. Rumor also has it that Ron Zook informed Houston Nutt of this situation at the recent college football coaches convention. I don't know how true either rumor actually is, but they're both plausible.

5. Defensive Tackle Corey Gaines - Another Army All-American, Corey Gaines has listed Arkansas, Auburn, and Ole Miss as his top three. I think one of our great successes this year was our ability to continuously rotate our defensive front. Since we are so deep at defensive tackle and end, we were able to have a fresh body in at seemingly all times. Gaines would simply add to this. As of right now, all signs point to Arkansas earning Gaines' LOI.

6. Tight End Zaccheus Mason - Apparently, Mason is a very good basketball prospect, having garnered a few-dozen scholarship offers to spend his next few years on the hardwood. However, he has personally stated that he wishes to play football at the next level. At 6'6", Mason possesses excellent size for a tight end and would likely become a true red zone threat wherever he lands. Having only played football for two seasons, Mason has been both lightly evaluated and recruited, with real pressure coming on him from Ole Miss and Tennessee very late in the game. It'd be nice to ink one solid tight end in every recruiting class and this could be the one.

7. Kicker Andrew Ritter - He's white and from Jackson Academy so I wouldn't have any major issues with my daughter hanging out with him. Also, he loves Jesus and thats the kind of ki....

What? No... NO WAY! You mean? We did!?! YYEEEESSSSSSSSS!!! 2009 BCS CHAMPS BABY!!!1121

Hi. My name is Peria... We've met before.

"Now, please, get the fuck out of my way."

Click here to see Peria Jerry ruin Herman "The House" Johnson of LSU at the NFL Senior Bowl practice. While the NFL Network commentators verbally fellate the LSU guard and really only mention Jerry in passing, it's still a pretty fun video. If you look through the other videos you'll be able to catch glimpses of Mike Oher and Ashlee Palmer along with Jerry. If you've got time to kill, go for it.


HT: VanillaFace

Rebel Roundup - Sr. Bowl and 2009 Schedule talk

Draft Stock Rising for Jerry, Palmer; Falling for Oher - Click here, here, and here for some Senior Bowl coverage. As one would expect, Ashlee Palmer and Peria Jerry are ruining whatever poor sons-of-bitches they're up against in the Senior Bowl practices. Unfortunately, Michael Oher hasn't been as impressive. Hopefully Oher will get out of whatever slump he appears to be in.

The Kansas Jayhawks to Highlight the Rebel OOC Schedule in 2009? - We're hearing rumors which would lead us to believe that the Rebels will be playing the Kansas Jayhawks in 2009. If this is indeed true, the matchup will be held in Dallas at the New Cowboys Stadium (is that really what they're calling it?) with a guaranteed payout of $6 million for each team. I know a lot of folks have been hearing that such a matchup would be held against Texas A&M or Colorado, but this matchup makes the most sense. Both teams will be looking to beef up their OOC slate in order to impress the BCS computers and both programs would draw just enough to attract a good TV deal and some serious cash. Bring it on, Big XII.

Nice shoes, bird.

Ole Miss at 'Bama: A game the Rebels might steal

Alabama doesn't have a fantastic basketball team this year, but neither does Ole Miss, especially after losing players to every knee injury imaginable. Our luck could only improve if another player doesn't go down before the year is out. 

Alabama lost their first regular season game of the year to the Mercer Bears from the Atlantic Sun conference. No kidding. It's not the first time the Tide has fallen to an A-Sun team as they fell to the Belmont Bears 85-83 last season. Mark Gottfried needs to lose his damn job just because of those two losses. Seriously, don't lose to private Southern Baptist funded schools in basketball when you're in the SEC, jackass. That's like losing to an intramural team...lots of short white guys chucking threes like Jeff Hornacek. I bet you forgot about that guy.

Starting for the Crimson Tide:

Alonzo Gee- leads team in scoring and rebounds

Senario Hillman- throws up more threes than anyone except Ronald Steele, but only shoots 18% from behind the arc

Ronald Steele- 38% from 3 point land and averages 12 ppg

JaMychal Green- leads team in blocked shots

Justin Knox- averages 20 min/game

Mikhail Torrence(did they draw letters out of a hat to get this first name?) comes off the bench and is a spark plug for the team.

Ole Miss has had back to back spectacular appearances from Terrico White. I think it's way past time to anoint him as the starting point guard for the rest of the season. 'Bama, like many other teams this year, will outrebound the Rebels as our big men are still learning how to play at a higher level. Murphy Holloway is showing some signs of talent and promise for the future. Hopefully, he'll get a little more consistent and not wait until we're down by 28 to start making plays.

I've been to Alabama for a basketball game before and their fans are pretty apathetic towards basketball. The students wear houndstooth basketball shorts and all kinds of ridiculous attire to show their support. If you look closely, you can see one fan yawning from boredom. PUT ON SOME DAMN PADS AND HIT SOMEBODY!!! ROLL TAHD!!!! 

Their crowd won't be very into this game because:

1.) It's Wednesday and the crowd won't be there.

2.) They're playing Ole Miss and expect to win.

Final score prediction: Alabama 74 Ole Miss 66

Rebel Roundup: Links 'n' Links 'n' Links (EDIT, new link)

We have all been terribly busy lately and therefore have not been bloggin' like we should. We would apologize but, come to think of it, we're not your damn clown. We'll entertain you on our own time.

Alright, that was a bit harsh. I'm sorry. We love you. Especially you, You TOOL, please continue to demonstrate your genius to us all.

Here are some links to peruse during this Inauguration Day. Go America.

Ole Miss is the 24th most Prestigious Program EVAR - Considering the fact that we have the 25th highest winning percentage of all time, this shouldn't be too shocking. ESPN.com's college football section had a cool graphic which included Archie Manning in the dead center. Thanks, ESPN. I don't know why you've all of the sudden grown some wondrous Ole Miss boner (save for the ever-impotent Mark May) but we at the Cup are down.

Can Dan Mullen Win? - Ivan Maisel ponders this in his newest piece on ESPN.com. He not only explores the differences between the Mississippi State program and the Florida program, but also the somewhat ridiculous expectations we all place on incoming coaches.

Sports Illustrated Declares Ole Miss a Draft "Winner" - Greg Hardy's decision to stay has earned us some positive press. The angst-riddled Archduke of Sackenstein should be an all-American next season. Jordan Jefferson, Ryan Mallett, Tyler Russell, and others beware. Along those same lines, SI's Stewart Mandel feels that the large number of returning juniors with great NFL potential are showing that it's "cool to stay in school." I personally doubt that Greg Hardy is trying to send that specific message but, whatever, sure.

EDIT: Stewart Mandel also has a Rebel Boner - We're his preseason #5. The pressure's on, Rebs.

A Sun Belt Team? Ouch...

Bruce Feldman, a writer for ESPN and the author of "Meat Market: Inside the Smash-mouth World of College Football Recruiting," was recently interviewed by VolQuest.com to give his insight on their recent hiring of Ed Orgeron. Feldman spent an extended amount of time in Oxford observing El Recruitzilla himself as research for Meat Market and, as such, has a pretty good understanding of the Ole Miss athletics administration. In the interview, he had this to say:

Ole Miss has nice facilities, but you are talking about Tennessee, you are not busing 6 hours to an away game. In some ways, I think Ole Miss partly from the athletic director is almost run like a Sun Belt conference school, whereas I think you are talking about Tennessee and the financial commitment they have made to the staff, but also just in terms of what the program is.

Damn you, Pete. How's the baseball expansion of yours coming, by the way? Oh, really, it's way behind schedule? Shocking.

Loss of Consortium

Ok. I'm getting sick of hearing people talk about how Andy Kennedy's wife, Kimber, filed a lawsuit against a cab driver because "now Andy can't get it up. LOLLZZ."

That's just not true. Loss of consortium does not mean erectile dysfunction. It could be as simple as he has his mind in other places or just feels distracted. Loss of consortium is defined as "a term used in the law of torts that refers to the deprivation of the benefits of a family relationship due to injuries caused by a tortfeasor."

For those of you who are unable to understand that simple definition, what it's saying is that Kimber's claim of loss of consortium could mean Andy is just too distracted and stressed out to undertake the duties of a father and husband. Now, it certainly has been used with regard to sexual problems, and rightfully so. There's a ton of case law out there to support that. I guess I'm just saying that loss of consortium could also be a lot of other things. Maybe it's that he's having trouble dealing with emotions with his family or that he's too distracted to want to listen to his family members' issues that arise on a day to day basis.

I think it's a little funny to joke about him sexually, but can everyone just get it through their heads that Andy Kennedy isn't permanently "limp-dicked" and may not be "limp-dicked" at all.

Growing Pains: Rebel Basketball

In case you didn't know, the Ole Miss basketball team is victim of a rash of injuries not seen since Tonya Harding was skating in the Olympics.

We've heard it through our sketchy media sources that Zach Graham is out for the remainder of the season with a torn patella tendon. If this is true, we'll have Patrick Spach getting some serious minutes very soon. No offense to Spach, he filled out some minutes on Saturday without making the game any worse than it already was, so kudos to him.

Murphy Holloway told David Brandt at the Clarion Ledger that the game was "a total abortion." Well said Murphy, but at least this abortion was in the second trimester of the season, making it legal in most states.

Terrico White is the future of Ole Miss basketball, and Saturday showed why as he dropped 22 points on the Tigers with the next closest Rebel player coming in at 10(that'd be Holloway).

I'm already looking towards next season for basketball. This season is a chance for growing young players, and we'll probably get heckled somewhat mercilessly for the next couple months. 

The Rebels now stand at 10-7 (1-2 SEC) with 13 games left to play. Here's what the Rebels have left to play: 7 games on the road including all of the SEC West teams, Vandy and South Carolina. If we win more than one of those seven road games, I'll be impressed. Coming to Oxford, we have Tennessee(loss), Kentucky(loss), Georgia(win), Auburn(win), Alabama(loss) and Mississippi State(loss).

A mighty 13-17 record and a quick exit from the SEC tourney in Atlanta plus the drama from Kennedy's trial shortly after the season makes for an exciting spring for the roundballers. 

Even one of Mike Seaver's zany, wacky plans couldn't save this team

Tip-off: Ole Miss vs. LSU

Here are the starting line-ups for today's game at 3 p.m. CT or as soon as the Gators dispatch of what will be an 0-3 SEC conference Arkansas.

To make you feel more like you're at the game, turn up yo' speakers and click hurrr.

The Cotton Bowl trophy will be presented at today's game, so attendance might crack 5,000 in reality for one of the few times this season. Spirit fans will still bitch about our fans afterwards regardless. LSU is 13-3 in their first season with Trent Johnson at the helm after John Brady left him with a few above average SEC players. Basically, if we don't stop Thornton and Mitchell, we're going to get stroked by a more athletic team.

Starting for LSU:

G Marcus Thornton

G Garrett Temple

G Bo Spencer

F Tasmin Mitchell

C Chris Johnson

Starting for Ole Miss:

G Dahveed Huertas

G Terrico White

G Zach Graham

F Murphy Holloway

F Malcolm White

It's growing pain time for the Rebels. Terrico White played his last game against Arkansas like his life depended on it, so if back to back appearances are made by Terrico, we'll have some consistency and more scoring threats to keep us in the game.

LSU has three guys that can go for 20 on any given night, so an early lead means a long afternoon for the Rebels. Our team doesn't quite have what it takes yet to come back from an early lead to dominate in the second half.

Predicted half-time score: UM 35 LSU 41

Predicted final: UM 74 LSU 80

Post your in-game comments here over the next couple hours, then we'll have our post-game comments.

Oh my, what a tangled web we weave

NOTE: Information was obtained by visiting the official sites of the respective universities' athletic programs. Before you send me any more "he's not on our coaching staff anymore" emails or comments, tell your school to get their website in order. Capiche?

Today, Houston Nutt announced the signing of Terry Price to the Rebel staff. Price, who will be filling in for his cousin (no joke), Tracy Rocker, at the defensive line coaching position marks one of the latest in a long line of intra-SEC coaching hires. As the former DE coach at Auburn and, yes, Ole Miss under Tommy Tuberville, he should hopefully bring experience coaching and recruiting to the Ole Miss staff.

Also today, Lane Kiffin announced the hiring of Frank Wilson, the former runningbacks coach for our Rebels and the same to be for the Bulldogs of Starkville, will join his old boss Ed Orgeron in Knoxville.

Outside of the South people like to think of our region as being "incestuous." Now, while we're not really going out there and bangin' our sisters (or brothers, I'm lookin' at you Florida), we've certainly put together some wacky relationships among our coaching staffs. We're seemingly constantly swapping head coaches, coordinators, and recruiters like they're playing cards. Once coaches get here, they don't want to leave. Of course, we do (from top to bottom) pay the most and provide the greatest opportunity to recruit and coach the nations best talent, all while appearing on ESPN every other weekend so, this is somewhat understandable.

Since I didn't have dick to do at work today, I researched the extent of this conference-wide phenomenon. I even drew a nifty map which simply shows which schools share a common coaching history and put together a detailed list because it tricked my supervisor into thinking I was elbow deep in assignments. It is important for me to let you know that I didn't count former players, volunteer coaches, or graduate assistants because this took long enough as it is. An interesting point of note is that Vanderbilt does not have anybody on staff who coached at another SEC school (outside of a GA role) but has provided coaches to a couple other SEC schools. The image below can be clicked for needed biggification.

ALABAMA
Nick Saban - Former HC at LSU
Kirby Smart - Former DB coach at LSU and RB coach at Georgia

ARKANSAS
Bobby Petrino - Former OC at Auburn
Mike Summers - Former OL coach at Kentucky

AUBURN
Tracy Rocker - Former DL coach at Ole Miss
Trooper Taylor - Former WR coach at Tennessee
Gus Malzhan - Former OC at Arkansas

FLORIDA
Kenny Carter - Former OLB coach at LSU and RB coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Vanderbilt

GEORGIA
John Wilson - Former Asst. HC, OC, and WR coach at South Caronlina
Rodney Garner - Former OT coach and TE coach at Tennessee and Recruiting Coordinator and TE coach at Auburn
Stacy Searels - Former OL coach at LSU
John Fabris - Former DE coach at South Carolina

KENTUCKY
Joker Phillips - Former WR coach at South Carolina
Larry Brinson - Former RB coach at Arkansas*
Rick Petri - Former DL coach at Ole Miss, DE coach at South Carolina
Randy Sanders - Former OC and QB coach at Tennessee
Chris Thurmond - Former CB coach at Alabama

LSU
Bradley Dale Peveto - Former ST coordinator and LB coach at Arkansas
Stan Drayton - Former RB coach at Mississippi State and FLorida
Lance Thompson - Former OLB coach at Alabama
Eddie Gran - Former RB coach and ST coordinator at Auburn and RB coach at Ole Miss

OLE MISS
Terry Price - Former DE coach at Auburn
Houston Nutt - Former HC at Arkansas
James Shibest - Former ST coordinator at Arkansas
Mike Markuson - Former OL coach at Arkansas
Chris Vaughn - Former LB and S coach at Arkansas
Tyrone Nix - Former DC at South Carolina

MISSISSIPPI STATE
Dan Mullen - Former OC at Florida
David Turner - Former DE coach at Alabama and DL coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Vanderbilt
Les Koenning - Former OC at Alabama
Melvin Smith - Former Safeties coach at Alabama and Ole Miss

SOUTH CAROLINA
Steve Spurrier - Former HC at Florida
Ellis Johnson - Former DC at Mississippi State and Alabama
Shane Beamer - Former CB coach at Mississippi State

TENNESSEE
Ed Orgeron - Former HC at Ole Miss
Frank Wilson - Former RB coach at Ole Miss and Mississippi State (kinda-sorta not really)
Lance Thompson - Former OLB coach at Alabama


I'm certain to have overlooked something somewhere, which is really just another indicator of how wacky this has gotten.


*Arkansas was in the SWC then so maybe this doesn't count.

OhMyGodMakeItStop

Seriously, Spirit posters? Really?

* redclayreb
* [Scout Subscriber]
* Ole Miss Legend
* 810 posts this site

Posted: Yesterday 11:46 PM

Re: Clayton Moore coming to Ole Miss

Heard the same thing about an unknown redhead in 1968 from Drew,Ms. He would never play a down of QB in front of Bob White and Brent Chumbler. White never played. "Shug" was a good QB. The redhead became a legend. Never say never someone once said.

And later, when someone pointed out the absurdity of THAT comparison:

* redclayreb
* [Scout Subscriber]
* Ole Miss Legend
* 810 posts this site

Posted: Today 12:23 AM

Re: Clayton Moore coming to Ole Miss

Nobody equals Archie Manning. Clayton reminds me more of Bret Favre.

Oh God. A Bret (sic) Favre and Archie Manning comparison applied to the same 6'1" QB who got kicked off of his high school football team a few weeks ago. I think something snapped in my brain when I read this. It has to stop. Stop begging for stars for players already committed/likely to commit. Quit acting like every two star will follow in Patrick Willis' footsteps. Stop adding and subtracting stars from Ole Miss players who busted/panned out to make a point. Just. Fucking. Stop it.

There are two camps that have been at it lately on these message boards, both equally stupid:

First, the Playstation Camp. Football is a giant video game to these guys, and boy, do they like to recruit. If Demond Washington remained at 3 or 4 stars, he'd have been an uninspiring pickup for Ole Miss, but that 5th star will give him 96 speed, 85 awareness, and 80 hands, and he'll be the best cornerback we've ever had, especially given our historic luck with highly regarded JUCO prospects! This type of fan can get pretty annoying. Playstation guys are already drawing up depth charts for the next six years at Ole Miss, and stacking them against the schedules for those years and our respective historic records against those opponents, and yadda yadda bullshit. Here's the deal guys: life is not predictable and manipulable like a video game or a math equation. Shit happens. Personalities, attitudes, injuries, motivation, officiating, weather, and a billion other factors all go into this random system of events that encompass the success or failure of a sports program. Stop trying to figure it out in your head. But hey, your annoyances are at least founded in logic and information, albeit largely qualitative. At least you aren't:

The 'Little Giants Guy.' Or the 'Rudy Guy,' or whatever your favorite 'ragtag bunch of misfits' sports movie may be. Look here, Little Giants Guy: had Archie Manning played high school ball in 2008, it is much more likely, even in his small town, that his talents would have been recognized. Recruiting was a shotgun blast in those days. You signed a bazillion kids and figured out who would be decent. The rest could change position or just go fuck themselves. Now, we have a pretty invasive media machine that does a decent job of evaluating talent. Clayton Moore is not Archie Manning or Brett Favre. Most two star linebackers aren't Patrick Willis. It just doesn't happen much anymore, as recruiting experts find that there is more and more money in this game, and the bulk of it goes to whomever can find the best information the fastest. So stop acting like every Ole Miss two star is a diamond in the rough. If you haven't noticed, we have our fair share of backup players on the team who will never play a significant down. We'll have some of those guys in this class and every class from here on. There are only 22 starters, and only a handful of star players amongst them. Prospects are all, to some degree, limited by physical potential, so quit getting excited over 6 foot quarterbacks that aren't fast, doughy looking, 6'3" offensive tackles, and cornerbacks with offers from Ole Miss and Idaho. Those guys aren't going to be good, almost certainly.

Sorry for the rant, but I sometimes can't help wandering away from Nafoom because I want to read about football instead of grills, divorces, shitty movies, etc. Then I see that shit on the Spirit, pop an aspirin, and take a nap, like I'm about to do right now. Have a good day, everyone. Except for you, RedClayReb. You get off the computer, go to WalMart, and buy a damn clue. That is all.

The Kennedys are having some, err, "issues."

SCENE: The Kennedy residence, Oxford, MS, 11:29 PM, master bedroom suite


Kimberly Kennedy - Oh, Aaaannnnddddyyyy....

Kimberly Kennedy sexily catwalks into the room, eyes fixed on her husband. Andy Kennedy, frustrated and tired, sits at the foot of their bed, head in hands with both feet planted firmly on the floor.

Andy Kennedy: Yes, dear...

KK: Why don't you take a look up here, big boy.

AK looks up towards his wife. She is wearing a colored tank top, panties, and high heels.

AK: Sexy... *sigh*

KK: Andy, what's wrong? You normally love my "field-hockey-player-undressing-in-the-locker-room" look?

AK: Ugh, damn dear, it's just, well, shit I've just got too much going on and I just can't really focus on anything right now.

KK: Not even.... me?

KK slowly raises her left leg high above the floor, and slowly slides it between AK's legs. She sits, straddling his knee, and looking him in the eyes. She places both of her hands over his shoulders and behind his head.

KK: Give it to me, Andy.

AK: Oh, baby...

Andy and Kimberly fall backwards onto their bed, grappled by the powerful eminence of their love. After several heavy minutes, their early attempts at lovemaking come to a sudden halt.

KK: Andy, c'mon, what's going on!?

AK: I'm sorry babe, it just won't go. It's not working right now I guess.

KK: What the fuck, Andy?

AK: I'm sorry, Kimberly! I'm sorry! I just don't know what's going on? I guess there's just too much on my mind right now, alright?!

KK: Andy, dear, what's on your mind. C'mon babe, tell me.

AK: Well, it's just that.. It's just

AK's eyes well up, his face turns red, and his words then become to loudly and quickly burst out of his mouth.

AK: I mean, with all of the shit that's going on right now I just CAN'T TAKE IT! My little Chris, Trevor, and Eniel... oh, my sweet Eniel... they're all going through so much right now and... *deep breath* ...and the young guys they're trying so hard and they're learning but they've just go so far to go and *deep breath* they just try so hard and it's just frustrating as a coach and that damn...

AK sits upright at the foot of the bed, head in hands.

AK: That damn IPF is taking for-fucking-EVER and I want it NOW! I want it, I want it, I want it NOW! And they booed him, baby, they booed him! He didn't deserve that!

KK: Who?! They booed who?!



AK: Houston! They booed him! Those damn Arkansas fans booed him! He's my FRIEND DAMMIT! He always talks about how special I am and about how he loves that headband and I LOVE THAT HEADBAND TOO! He's my friend and they were just so mean to him at the game!

The room goes quiet. KK slips next to AK and calmly begins to speak.

KK: But, Andy, this happens all of the time, remember. We are, Ole Miss? Remember?!

AK: I guess... But, I dunno, there's also that cab driver and that Colby Arceneaux looking motherfucker valet guy. I just can't get them out of my head! They think I'm a racist, Kimberly. I'm not a racist! I'm a motherfucking BASKETBALL coach! How in the hell can I be a racist? And, it's just, it was all on the news and they said I was a violent man and that I hit him when really, it was just all a confusing situation! And now, we've got all of these lawsuits and such and well, I just can't take it! I can't do my damn job anymore baby... I just can't do it. I'm sorry baby, I just can't find you sexy tonight, not with all of this on my mind.

KK jumps out of the bed and storms out of the room. AK jumps up and follows quickly behind.

AK: Where are you going?!

KK: That's IT! I'm calling our lawyer!

AK: Baby, dearie, Sweetie McBuns, this isn't worth getting a divorce over!

KK: Divorce? DIVORCE?! This isn't about a damned divorce, Andy! I'm going to sue that fucking [racial slur redacted], no good piece of [racial slur redacted] shit, [racial slur redacted], [racial slur redacted], [somewhat-clever-yet-still-insensitive racial slur redacted] Mohamed bastard for wedging his [racial slur redacted] bullshit in between our slim, sex-starved bodies! I NEED THIS, ANDY!


END SCENE

The Grades are in: SEC East

The grades for the West can be found here.

Florida: A+

You're welcome, Timmy. VICARIOUS NATIONAL CHAMPS, MAWFUKKAZ!

Florida earns a well deserved "A+" because... well, really, I shouldn't need to explain further. They won the BCS Championship, dammit. The SEC owns all of you.

Vanderbilt: A-- (Yes, that's "A minus minus")

If this were anybody but Vanderbilt, they'd have gotten a low "C" or a high "D." Starting 5-0 and earning a #13 ranking, only to lose to Mississippi State and begin a slide into 6-6 is, by the standards of folks who have been to bowl games over the last two decades, pretty bad. But, it's Vanderbilt and they just won a bowl game against a BCS team. My dad was four years old the last time that happened.

But, Ghost, there wasn't a BCS back then.

Shut the hell up. Don't you think I know that?

Anyway, here's something neato on which to chew: Boston College had the longest bowl victory streak in America until the 'Dores showed up. On your victories over ranked teams and bowl championship, congrats Vanderbilt. As for next year, well, I don't really have any clue what's going to happen then. Google up a Vandy blog or something.

Georgia: B-

Matt Stafford is showing you the number two, as in how many more games the Bulldogs should have won. The curse of the preseason AP #1 lives on. Losing to Florida is understandable. Perhaps not by that margin, but still, they're good. Losing to Georgia Tech and Alabama shouldn't be. Alabama shouldn't have been able to score so many points in the first half while simple, fundamental tackling would have kept the Yellowjackets out of the endzone on a few of those long touchdown runs.

Their offensive line was young and their defense was overrated. Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford are legitimate, first-round NFL prospects but it takes more than that to create the national championship caliber team we were all led to believe the Bulldogs were going to be.

Without Stafford and Moreno, their offense should have some trouble getting into a groove next season. As the season progresses, so should the Bulldogs but I cannot imagine them winning more than 10 games in 2009-10 with the Oklahoma State, Arizona State, LSU, and Arkansas on their schedule.

Kentucky: C-

Kentucky jumped quickly out of the gate but faded in the stretch (get it... horse jokes? nobody?). Before everyone realized how awful Louisville actually was, I was very impressed with Kentucky's opening performance. However, after having only won two SEC games by a grand total of two points, it became apparent that Kentucky simply wasn't that strong of a squad.

Their bowl win did impress many, though. To rally from behind by using solid, solid defense takes talent and, get this, good coaching. Kentucky won their third bowl game in a row which, three years ago, would have been a laughable statement.

Hartline needs to step it up and Kentucky needs to amplify their offense significantly in order to improve for 2009. They were very good defensively, but simply couldn't find the endzone as often as they should have.

South Carolina: D+

Stephen Garcia looks bummed that String Cheese Incident cancelled their recent Columbia show. Anyway, South Carolina did what South Carolina does: wiped their collective ass on their expectations. Their season began in similar fashion to Ole Miss' with a good mix of wins and losses but, after week 3 or 4, the Gamecocks went on a tear winning 6 of 7. Sitting on a 7-3 record, the 'Cocks looked like a legitimate dark horse in the SEC East (as much of one as you can be when the BCS champs are involved, that is). Unfortunately, Steve Spurrier must have misplaced his refrigerator magnet schedule thingy because the Gamecocks didn't even show up to their three final games, losing all three by a combined score of 118-30. Were they, for the most of the season, a better team than Kentucky? Absolutely, but their season's end was putrid enough to sink them below the Wildcats.

If South Carolina's quarterback situation can be remedied, even in the slightest, they should see marked improvement for next season.

Tennessee: F

I mean, who in the hell loses to Wyoming?

*Man in suit leans over to a strident Ghost of Jay Cutler. Covering his earpiece with his fingertip, he hurriedly whispers into Ghost's ear.*

pssha-pssa-tapssshss-tapsshshst

Uh huh?

apssshhha-pssh-psshht

Oh, I see... Ahem, while losses to such storied programs as the Wyoming Cowboys and the UCLA Bruins should be expected with such a murder's row of an OOC schedule, Tennessee should not have struggled as they did against their SEC foes. Losses to Auburn and South Carolina could have been avoided had the Vols played as they did against the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the Wildcats of Kentucky. Their play on the field was rarely good, primarily inconsistent, and oftentimes just plain bad.

The Lane Kiffin hire is interesting in that he is bringing in proven coaches and/or coordinators to hopefully pick up where he leaves off. Tennessee is too talented to win a mere 5 games next season but, if the "talent" wearing the headsets can't get it together quickly, the Volunteers could have another forgettable season.