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1. The college baseball season begins on Friday.
As of this writing, the forecast calls for a beautiful weekend in Oxford, with sunny skies and highs of 48, 58 and 61, respectively, for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Swayze, I suspect, will be packed.
Friday also launches another season of debate regarding Mike Bianco and his two decades-long tenure at Ole Miss. For the next 3-plus months, the question that basically underlies everything to do with the program is not “Is it Omaha or bust?” Instead, the question, at least in my opinion, is “Should it be Omaha or bust?”
And that, again in my opinion, is complicated. I won’t pretend to be a college baseball expert. I’m not really on the beat, so the amount of attention I pay to the sport is less than some. However, from my view, which is somewhere between field level and 30,000 feet, Bianco has built a remarkably successful, steady, consistent program that has consistently done everything except the one thing that is the ultimate measure of success in the sport — getting to the College World Series.
Bianco has taken Ole Miss to Omaha once. In the last two seasons, not counting the COViD-shortened 2020 season, the Rebels have reached the Super Regional round, only to be bounced at Arkansas in 2019 and at Arizona last June.
Therein lies the rub, really. The Super Regional round appears to be Bianco’s ceiling. On the flip side, quite often, the Super Regional round also appears to be his floor.
This year’s team could easily land in that sweet spot. The Rebels will have one of the better lineups in the sport and they’ll hit their way to plenty of wins. Conversely, there’s no established ace on this Ole Miss pitching staff, so Bianco will have to piece together arms to maneuver the Rebels to wins.
In the loaded Southeastern Conference, that will be difficult, meaning the Rebels’ road to Omaha could easily include a Super Regional away from Oxford.
Can you fire a coach that makes what is essentially the Sweet 16 three years in a row? Sure. Should you? That’s a different question.
Bianco built the monster that is Ole Miss baseball. Students camped out overnight just to reserve seats in right field. There will be a baseball-fueled buzz in Oxford this weekend. In February. That wasn’t always the case.
Yes, Bianco interviewed for the LSU job last summer. That infuriated fans. Some — hand raised — tried to say beforehand that a sitting SEC coach interviewing for another SEC job would be problematic if said coach didn’t get/take said job. It was, and here we are. Of course, Ole Miss knew Bianco was interviewing. Bianco appears to have had Keith Carter’s blessing to do so. I suspect that’s because everyone involved knew it was time to move on and a ready-made solution was basically waiting in the wings.
LSU athletics director Scott Woodward had other plans, of course, and like I said, here we are. And it’s easy today, on a cold day in Oxford, to say it’s Omaha or bust come June. Some 60-plus games from now, after wins and losses, beer showers and nail-biters, exhilarating wins and crushing defeats, that decision just might not be so easily made.
It promises to be, if nothing else, an interesting ride.
2. Here are my sure-to-go-wrong predictions for the 2022 SEC baseball season:
SEC East:
1. Vanderbilt
2. Florida
3. Tennessee
4. Georgia
5. South Carolina
6. Kentucky
7. Missouri
SEC West:
1. Ole Miss
2. Arkansas
3. Mississippi State
4. LSU
5. Texas A&M
6. Alabama
7. Auburn
SEC Champion: Vanderbilt
3. Here are my even-more-sure-to-be-wrong predictions for SEC postseason honors:
C -- Hayden Dunhurst, Ole Miss
1B -- Tre' Morgan, LSU
2B -- Robert Moore, Arkansas
SS -- Jacob Gonzalez, Ole Miss
3B -- Cayden Wallace, Arkansas
OF -- Dylan Crews, LSU
OF -- Enrique Bradfield Jr., Vanderbilt
OF -- Jud Fabian, Florida
DH/Util -- Luke Hancock, Mississippi State
SP -- Landon Sims, Mississippi State
SP -- Jonathan Cannon, Georgia
RP -- Nick Maldonado, Vanderbilt
Freshman of the Year: Peyton Stovall, Arkansas
Pitcher of the Year: Landon Sims, Mississippi State
Player of the Year: Dylan Crews, LSU
Coach of the Year: Mike Bianco, Ole Miss
4. Ole Miss lost at Missouri Saturday night, falling below .500 for the season and to 3-9 in the SEC.
The Rebels entertain South Carolina Tuesday and then travel to Georgia on Saturday. Both of those games are winnable, as the Gamecocks are just 5-7 in the league and Georgia is a woeful 1-11.
But let's be honest here; the rest of this season is somewhat immaterial. The final two weeks of the season feature trips to Auburn and Kentucky and home games against Texas A&M and Vanderbilt. Even if you give Ole Miss four wins in the final three weeks -- and I'd bet against that -- this season is ending at the SEC Tournament in Tampa next month.
All that's left is a decision from Ole Miss regarding moving forward. My guess -- and at this point, it's really just a slightly educated guess -- is Kermit Davis is going to get another year. The injury to Daeshun Ruffin in Baton Rouge earlier this month, I suspect, ended the evaluation period. Ruffin was playing extremely well at the time of his injury, lifting his teammates' play and guiding the Rebels to a nice stretch of games.
Without Ruffin on the floor, it's difficult to paint a complete picture of what this team could have been.
However, Ruffin's absence doesn't gloss over what is obvious -- there have been real evaluation errors that have severely limited the effectiveness of the Ole Miss roster. There are dead spots all over the 13-man roster. That's harsh, and I'm uncomfortable writing those words, but it's true.
The program simply has to do a better job of evaluating players and taking the floor with a deeper roster. Davis has done a strong job of bringing in a handful of top-level players. Ruffin is a future star. Matthew Murrell was thriving with Ruffin as his backcourt mate. Luis Rodriguez was emerging as an off-the-bounce threat with Ruffin running the point. Jaemyn Brakefield's game -- raw as it is -- was beginning to show real signs of life as a complementary piece to Ruffin and Murrell.
But look, this is the SEC. Bruce Pearl has built a force at Auburn. Nate Oats has turned Alabama into a contender, though there are industry whispers that he could be at the top of Kansas' list if Bill Self lands an NBA gig this offseason. Arkansas is back to being a consistent NCAA Tournament team. All jokes aside, LSU is a beast. Rick Barnes has Tennessee playing at a Sweet 16 level. Kentucky is Kentucky. On and on. The league is a bitch, and you better have real bite to navigate it.
There will be, I suspect, talk about extensions and rollovers and what does or doesn't happen with buyouts behind the scenes. All of that is just semantics.
Last Wednesday, there was a decent crowd at The Pavilion for Alabama-Ole Miss, but the atmosphere was, well, blah. Tuesday night will be interesting to observe, both in terms of bodies in seats and atmosphere in the arena.
Frankly, it's all that's really left to follow in this season. This team is 25 games into its injury-riddled season, and it is what it is at this point. There's no miracle in the offing. This team plays hard. It gives effort. It fights and claws. That's commendable, a credit to both the players and to the coaching staff.
But it's not talented enough. That's not some secret. It's simply not good enough to win at this level. How that gets addressed is the only storyline worth writing and/or talking about at this point.
5. It's time for my weekly ranking of the SEC basketball programs, with their NET rankings in parentheses:
1. Kentucky (4) -- The Wildcats are a title contender.
2. Auburn (8) -- So is Auburn, which will benefit greatly from losing at Arkansas last week.
3. Tennessee (10) -- Credit to the Vols. They're gritty as hell but they also have weapons on offense.
4. Alabama (23) -- Defense is a concern and the Tide could get bounced in the first round, but damn if they can't score from all over the floor.
5. LSU (16) -- Don't look now, but the Tigers appear to have figured some things out.
6. Arkansas (32) -- The Hogs killed themselves in the final two minutes in Tuscaloosa, but they're a solid club headed into the postseason.
7. Florida (45) -- Many people believe Mike White has to get the Gators to the NCAA Tournament to feel safe.
8. Mississippi State (54) -- The Bulldogs have no margin for error anymore. At some point, they're going to have to win some Quad 1 games.
9. Vanderbilt (81) -- The Commodores are solid, but in this league, solid won't cut it.
10. South Carolina (105) -- It feels like the end of the road for Frank Martin.
11. Texas A&M (73) -- The Aggies collapsed. They'll always have those first few weeks in January.
12. Missouri (143) -- The worst line on Ole Miss' resume this season is the two losses to the Tigers.
13. Ole Miss (107) -- See Thought No. 4.
14. Georgia (199) -- All that's left to discuss in Athens is who replaces Tom Crean.
6. Here are the games to watch this week in the SEC:
Tuesday:
Florida at Texas A&M -- It's a danger spot of sorts for the Gators, but a win would be super helpful for their tourney chances.
Kentucky at Tennessee -- It's a big opportunity for the Wildcats to make a case for a No. 1 seed.
Wednesday:
Mississippi State at Alabama -- Here's your shot, MSU. Make the most of it.
Saturday:
Tennessee at Arkansas -- The Hogs go to Missouri Tuesday before getting ready for what should be a showdown against the Vols. Bud Walton rocked for the Auburn game. The Razorbacks will need similar energy against Tennessee.
Alabama at Kentucky -- Alabama has to prove it can consistently make shots away from Coleman Coliseum.
Auburn at Florida -- If the Gators can beat Texas A&M Tuesday, this could be their shot to all but clinch a tournament berth.
7. Last week, I posted a fairly comprehensive story regarding potential 2023 Ole Miss football recruiting targets. Obviously, with the transfer portal in full swing and with NIL impacting decisions and changing the recruiting landscape, it’s almost impossible to project who may or may not be a target two years from now.
There are, however, some players who are likely sure things. Here are a handful of 2024 targets in Mississippi who are almost certainly worth following:
Madison, Miss., four-star offensive lineman Jimothy Lewis has already collected seven offers, including SEC programs Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. He visited Georgia unofficially in January and will be a national recruit. Ole Miss, obviously, covets him.
Lake Cormorant defensive tackle Kamarion Franklin has also emerged as a top target. He’s already 6-foot-5 and 251 pounds. He’s visited Ole Miss and the Rebels love him.
“He’s definitely a take,” a source said.
Ocean Springs wide receiver Noreel White was committed to Florida State but has already backed off that pledge. Mississippi State will be involved as well, but sources believe Ole Miss will be in excellent shape with a strong push.
Starkville wide receiver Braylon Burnside is a player the Rebels love, but no one inside the program is kidding themselves. Even though Ole Miss has taken A.J. Brown and Luke Altmyer out of Starkville, it won’t be an easy pull.
Keep an eye on Jackson (Callaway) wide receiver Jeremy Scott. Mississippi State has offered, but Ole Miss likes him and will try to get him to campus routinely over the next 12-18 months.
The same holds for Meridian ATH/safety Daniel Hill. LSU, Mississippi State and Southern Miss have already offered, but Ole Miss will try to get him to campus a lot during 2022 and early 2023.
The Rebels were first on Tupelo (Tupelo Christian Academy) offensive lineman Isaiah Autry. He’s since added offers from Mississippi State, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee and others. Ole Miss loves the 6-6, 250-pounder and will make him a priority for the ’24 class.
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2024/jimothy-lewis-270126
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2024/kamarion-franklin-280219
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2024/noreel-white-274008
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2024/braylon-burnside-273373
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2024/jeremy-scott-280972
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2024/daniel-hill-277948
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2024/isaiah-autry-280664
8. Ole Miss announced last week that it will begin spring football practice on March 22 with the annual Grove Bowl set to be played on April 23.
With that in mind, I'll start to preview some spring story lines that interest me heading into that month of practices.
First up: Quarterbacks
I thought about starting with what is a renovated coaching staff, which is still one coach short after Chris Kiffin changed his mind and elected to return to the NFL's Cleveland Browns. There's a new offensive coordinator in Charlie Weis Jr., a new strength and conditioning coordinator in Nick Savage, a new special teams coach in Jeremy Springer and there are more changes sprinkled throughout the staff.
But if we're honest, I suspect, most eyes are going to be on the quarterback position. Matt Corral is gone, as he's preparing for an NFL Draft that should see him taken somewhere between Pick No. 10 and Pick No. 22.
Luke Altmyer, who filled in for Corral when he suffered a first-quarter ankle injury versus Baylor in the Rebels' Sugar Bowl loss Jan. 1, is back. So is Kinkead Dent, who, per sources, had a strong December as he and Altmyer got work with the starters while Corral healed up from a different ankle injury.
Altmyer was 20-for-37 passing last season, good for 197 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The Starkville native battled injury and illness during the fall, but in that difficult assignment against Baylor, he showed flashes of brilliance.
Dent was 2-for-4 passing for 7 yards last season. There were whispers regarding both Dent and Altmyer at least thinking about testing the transfer portal, but neither did and both were mentioned by Lane Kiffin as candidates to win the starting job in 2022.
Of course, the prohibitive favorite to take the first snap against Troy in September is USC transfer Jaxson Dart. The Utah native was 117-for-189 passing for USC last season, good for 1,353 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. Dart also rushed 22 times for 43 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Trojans.
Dart, a 6-foot-3, 215-pounder, has a strong, accurate arm and tremendous leadership skills. He had hoped to return to USC and compete for the starting job in 2022 under new coach Lincoln Riley, but when the Trojans added former Oklahoma quarterback Caleb Williams from the transfer portal, the writing was on the wall.
My guess: Kiffin doesn't name a starter this spring and declares the job open heading into fall camp. I'd bet on Dart, but Altmyer was a tremendous high school quarterback known for his ability to simply make plays. I won't be stunned if there's a legitimate quarterback competition in August.
9. Monday is Valentine’s Day, so our Parisian chef, Burton Webb, has a Valentine’s-themed recipe this week. Here’s Taste of the Place, Lesson 122 — Orange-Chocolate Tart.
When your think about V-day, you don’t have to go with the strawberries dipped in dark chocolate. Do something different, it will make you stand out.
For this dessert, it is easy to make, just as always make it ahead of time. When the summer comes around…pull this recipe back out for you and your guests.
Tidbit #1: You will need to bake your tart/pie shell before assembling. Cook at 370°F for 15 minutes beforehand with the melted butter and brown sugar.
Tidbit #2: For the orange cream, I like to pour it into the shell once cooked.
Tidbit #3: Have your slices of orange supremes already cut and in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, place them on top of the custard because it might water the custard down a little too much.
Things you will need:
4 People (2 portions for the nighttime and 2 portions for the day after)
Preparation time - 10 Minutes
Cook time - 25 Minutes
Glass of Riesling
Utensils needed:
Worksurface and chef’s knife
Digital scale
Saucepan
Stove and oven
Whisk
Pie/tart pan
Microwave
Microwave safe bowl
Ingredients needed:
Frozen pie dough
25 g butter
25 g brown sugar
150 grams dark chocolate
300 ml 0range juice
2 Egg yolk
100 g sugar
Zest of 1 orange
2 Heavy spoons cornstarch
2 Tips vanilla extract
5 Oranges
Mise en Plac
Step 1: Pre-heat your oven to 370°F. Melt the butter in the microwave and then add the sugar. Mix. Place the pie shell in the pie/tart pan and then add in the butter-sugar mixture. Bake for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Once the pie shell comes out. Let rest to the side. Add the chocolate to the same microwave-safe bowl and melt. Pour into the bottom of the pie/tart shell. Set the side.
Step 3: Combine the rest of the ingredients into the saucepan and cook on medium heat until the consistency is like banana pudding. Pull from the heat and pour into the tart shell. Let cool in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
Final Step 4: Cut out the orange supremes and layer them on top of the creme of the tart. If you want, you can add a touch of red food coloring to give it a wow look. It is mighty tasty and a great recipe to try out. You won’t be disappointed.
From the Mississippian in Paris, Bon Appétit!
10. We'll have coverage of Ole Miss basketball, baseball, football recruiting and more this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me -- and hopefully, to you -- for your reading pleasure:
AuburnSports - ADOB: A stinging yet potentially redemptive reset
Rivals.com - Tuesdays with Gorney: Five programs that could sign the top 2023 class
How Toledo shaped Bears head coach Matt Eberflus: 'He is the most intense guy on the football field'
The cautionary tale of James Harden getting what 'The Beard' wants, nicks and all
Vecenie: Kings trading Tyrese Haliburton, adding Domantas Sabonis begs simple question — why?
Drellich and Rosenthal: No reason to believe MLB season will start on time
Kasey Kahne, after three years of uncertainty, is back in the driver's seat
A Health Public Policy Nightmare
Joe Rogan calls attempt to cancel him over podcast a ‘hit job’
