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These will be short this week, as I'm writing on a Monday in which there's a lot going on. I'll try to get back to normal next weekend.
1. Somewhat shockingly, Ole Miss made the NCAA Tournament.
The Rebels, the last team into the 64-team field, will face Arizona on Friday in Coral Gables, Fla. They are paired with Miami and Canisius in Coral Gables. Should the Rebels win the regional, they'd likely face either Southern Miss or LSU in a Super Regional in Hattiesburg or Baton Rouge next weekend.
I'll leave it to others far more knowledgeable about college baseball to break all of that down, but from my vantage point, it's a winnable regional. Arizona is 37-23, including a 16-14 mark in the Pac-12. The Rebels will likely have to face Wildcats ace Garrett Irvin on Friday. He's 5-4 with a 3.22 earned run average and a 1.19 WHIP. So he's solid, but that's a lineup Dylan DeLucia could potentially navigate.
Miami is 39-18 and 28-8 at home, so the Hurricanes are the prohibitive favorite, but again, in terms of draws, Ole Miss caught one hell of a break.
2. No matter what they say publicly, there's no way Ole Miss coaches and players were confident over the weekend that they were getting good news today.
No way.
After losing to Vanderbilt on Tuesday at the SEC Tournament in Hoover, the Rebels practiced and went through the motions, but nothing was falling their way over the last few days -- until it did.
Personally, I think teams that are given an extra life are dangerous. Ole Miss is flawed, sure, but this team is capable. DeLucia has to be very good and has to win Friday and then Hunter Elliot has to win Saturday, but if that happens, Ole Miss is the kind of offense that can beat up the back end of rotations and bullpens, especially in a hitter-friendly park like the one they'll play in this weekend.
3. What does it mean for Mike Bianco?
In all likelihood, it's a one-week reprieve. Had Ole Miss not made the tournament, administrators would have had to inform him by Tuesday whether he had or had not earned a rollover of his contract back out to the full four years. That answer was going to be a negative, and that could've led to a discussion this week that ended his 22-year tenure.
Now, Ole Miss will at least play until Saturday, meaning that can is getting kicked down the road a week or so.
However, if Ole Miss were do something it's never done under Bianco -- win a road regional -- things could get interesting. A third Super Regional in three years (the 2020 season ended in March due to Covid) would be a strong argument for Bianco to make if he's fighting for his job.
For now, however, all eyes are on Coral Gables. A team that had to believe it was done gets another chance, and Bianco's tenure has a breath of life.
4. Here are my sure-to-go-awfully wrong predictions for the 16 NCAA Tournament regionals:
Knoxville Regional: Tennessee
Statesboro Regional: Notre Dame
Blacksburg Regional: Virginia Tech
Gainesville Regional: Florida
College Station Regional: Texas A&M
Louisville Regional: Louisville
Greenville Regional: Virginia
Austin Regional: Texas
Stanford Regional: Stanford
College Park Regional: Wake Forest
Chapel Hill Regional: North Carolina
Stillwater Regional: Oklahoma State
Coral Gables Regional: Miami
Hattiesburg Regional: LSU
Auburn Regional: Florida State
Corvallis Regional: Oregon State
5. College football recruiting will heat up again this week, and that includes action at Ole Miss.
Unofficial visits resume this week, capped by a Friday Night Lights session for invited prospects on, you may have guessed, Friday night.
Ole Miss will also entertain several official visitors this week. Junior college defensive back Roman Rashada is set to take a midweek official visit. The Diablo Valley (Calif.) Community College standout is down to Ole Miss, Miami and Virginia Tech.
Watkinsville, Ga., athlete Whit Weeks is also due in this week. Georgia, Oklahoma and LSU are also at the top of Weeks' list.
This weekend, Ole Miss will entertain St. Louis defensive back Marvin Burks and DeSoto, Texas, wide receiver Johntay Cook II. Texas is considered the favorite for Cook, while Ole Miss appears to have an edge for Burks.
Prospects will drop in intermittently throughout the next couple of weeks, but even the summer has changed with the new transfer rules. Schools are no longer limited to 25 initial scholarships, meaning, per a source, "It's going to change the game for everyone."
The new rule is for two years only, at least for now, but the lack of limits is going to mean even more roster turnover.
"It's going to be a crazy next two years," a SEC staffer told me.
6. Brandon Marcello of 247 Sports last week posted an interesting list of the top 100 games of the upcoming college football season.
It's just one guy's opinion, sure, but Marcello is plugged in and very knowledgable about the sport. So I found his list to be interesting.
Marcello has six Ole Miss games listed.
12. Alabama at Ole Miss
31. Ole Miss at Texas A&M
34. Mississippi State at Ole Miss
35. Ole Miss at Arkansas
41. Kentucky at Ole Miss
61. Ole Miss at LSU
This tells me Marcello is pretty high on Ole Miss. The Rebels' date with Alabama is all the way up at No. 12, which tells me Marcello believes Ole Miss has a shot that afternoon or evening in Oxford. From there, if I'm extrapolating correctly, Marcello has Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Arkansas ahead of the rest of the SEC West. He has Texas A&M at Alabama atop his list, so he's got Ole Miss just ahead of Arkansas in the SEC West.
It's worth noting, at least to me, that LSU is that low and that Auburn, a program Marcello is very dialed into, isn't on the radar.
7. The SEC spring meetings begin today in Destin, Fla.
As my friend, Anthony Dasher of UGASports.com wrote this weekend, "There’s going to be plenty to discuss. Future conference schedules, the transfer portal and the ongoing saga regarding NIL (name, image, and likeness), those are expected to be among the major talking points for the 14 leagues schools when meetings get underway.
"This will also mark the first time Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher will have seen each other face to face since their much-publicized war of words two weeks ago.
"SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey would no doubt prefer not to have to play referee and instead paint a unified front for the conference.
"Presidents and chancellors, head football coaches and head basketball coaches (men and women), along with other athletic department officials from all 14 universities will be attending the event. It will mark the first time since 2019 that the meetings will be in person since Covid wiped out the schedule 2020 event with last year’s event held on a video conference calls.
"'I think everything is being discussed,” Georgia president Jere Morehead said Thursday during Georgia’s annual Athletic Association Board of Directors meeting at Lake Oconee. 'We’re going to have a joint presidents-AD meeting during the Destin meeting. But I’m not at a point of predicting what outcomes will occur at this stage,” he said. “The athletic directors have been in much more discussion about this, so part of this is for the presidents to have a discussion with the athletic directors to see where they are.'"
The best way to implement a new conference scheduling model should be an interesting conversation.
Last week, Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellinger reported that the SEC is down to two models. The smaller of the two would be an eight-game format which would include one permanent opponent and a rotation of seven others.
The second would be a larger nine-game format with three permanent opponents with a rotation of six others.
I'd bet heavily on the 3-6 model carrying the day, by the way. Rivalries, money, pressure from television partners and more will see to it.
8. The NBA Finals are set.
The Golden State Warriors, who ousted the Dallas Mavericks in five games, will meat the Boston Celtics, who held on in dramatic fashion in Game 7 to beat the Miami Heat.
It should be an interesting series between the Warriors, who can score in bunches, and the Celtics, who are a defensive stalwart.
My prediction, and God, I hope I'm wrong: Warriors in 7.
9. It’s time to eat. Here’s our resident Parisian chef, Burton Webb, with Taste of the Place, Lesson Lesson 137 — Croque-monsieur.
With Memorial Day weekend here, how about a way to elevate your ham-n-cheese sandwich. This one comes all the way from the French bistros and cafés.
Tidbit #1: So what makes this different is béchamel sauce. Now, if you don’t want to go this route, it is very simple, use sour cream. The little bit of acidity will pair well to cut into the ham.
Tidbit #2: For the sandwich, you will need an oven and stovetop. This is ironically the best way to ensure that the cheese on the inside is fully melted into gooiness.
Tidbit #3: You can make a few of these before actually cooking them and freeze them. This way, when you want one, just pop it into the oven at 350°F until it bubbles on the top.
Things you will need:
2 People
Preparation time - 5 Minutes
Cook time - 10 Hours
Glass of Lemonade
Utensils needed:
Worksurface
Oven and stovetop
Knife
Saute pan
Measuring cups in (sprinkles, smidgens, drizzles, piles, and dashes)
Ingredients needed:
4 Pieces of bread
4 Slices ham
Shredded Gruyere cheese
Dried thyme
Honey
Tabasco
2 Garlic cloves
4 Tbsp butter
Olive oil
Sour Cream/Bechamel sauce
Dijon Mustard
Salt and pepper
Mise en Plac
Step 1: Preheat your oven broiler to 350°F. Assemble your sandwich by doing a thin layer of mustard on the bottom piece of bread followed by the ham and then a pile of shredded cheese. Drizzle over honey at this point with a dash or two of tabasco sauce. Finish with dried thyme.
Step 1.2: For the top bun, liberally spread over the sour cream on one side, stack on top of the sandwich, and then repeat for the other side. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the top and finish with just a smidgen of cheese.
Step 2: Over medium heat, add the butter and a drizzle of olive oil to the sauté pan with the garlic cloves. Place the sandwich in to cook for 3 minutes. (Do not flip). Place the sandwich directly into the preheated oven. Let the sour cream and cheese brown on top.
Final
Step 3: Once browned, take from the oven and let cool for 3 minutes before slices. Then dig in with your favorite potato chips or French fries and some lemonade.
From the Mississippian in Paris, Bon Appétit!
10. We'll have coverage of Ole Miss baseball, football recruiting and whatever else may come up this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me -- and hopefully, to you -- for your reading pleasure:
Celtics Are NBA Finals Bound After Unpredictable Season
How men's league helped Chicago Cubs pitching prospect Matt Swarmer
The NCAA, its NIL reluctance and the man on the inside who was right all along - The Athletic
Dollars and sense: Dan Roan says goodbye; Marquee commits blunder
Agents sound off on CFB carousel: ‘Searches are a farce’; ‘There's no loyalty’
MLB season’s first 40 games: 10 things we learned and 5 execs’ takeaways - The Athletic
Adley Rutschman bringing new life to Orioles' fan base, franchise
'It's not fair to anybody': After family tragedy, Logan Webb vows to fight against fentanyl
Cubs prospect updates on Caleb Kilian, Jordan Wicks, Brailyn Marquez
Hollinger: Why the Grizzlies' flexibility to do anything could result in doing nothing
Thom Brennaman Continues to Search for a Second Chance
José Andrés Has a Better Way for You to Grill Steak | Food & Wine
Sabbath service derails after couple begins having sex on Zoom
Netflix tells 'woke' workers to quit if they are offended: 'culture' memo
