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1. Sometimes things happen to us, and in the moment, we’re convinced it was an awful development.

Often, we discover that what we thought was awful was actually great. Sometimes, the adversity we tried so hard to avoid ends up being the ingredient we needed for growth.

It takes time to gain that perspective, but over time, navigating through the proverbial fog provides a previously unattainable level of clarity.

I’ll give a personal example before I make my point about how what I just wrote applies to this Ole Miss football team. In November 2007, I was abruptly fired from my job as a radio talk show host in Mobile, Ala. The call came after my show on a Wednesday evening. At the time, I was devastated. I was embarrassed and humiliated. I was angry. I felt the firing was absurdly unfair and I worried it would be destructive to my journalism career. I still had my gig as a columnist at the Mobile Register, but things were dark in my world.

Months later, I reluctantly left Mobile and mainstream media for a job in Oxford, covering one of my alma maters for a team site that was absolutely not the market leader. I was ridiculed by many in my field, written off as some sort of homer taking the easy route. Paul Finebaum made fun of my move on the air in Birmingham. It was a low moment, and while I viewed it as a cheap shot, it hurt.

I won’t tell you everything was, as Tyler Siskey often says, sunshine, rainbows and My Little Ponies. There were times when I felt sorry for myself. However, that ridicule stirred something in me. It motivated me and drove me, fueled me to push myself. Without that ridicule, I never fully pour myself into RebelGrove.com or discover that I had an entrepreneurial streak that helped build MPW Digital.

I think something similar happened to this Ole Miss football team. The Rebels began the season No. 6 in the national polls. They were widely considered a shoo-in for the 12-team College Football Playoff. There was no lack of respect.

Then Ole Miss lost in stunning fashion at home to Kentucky. Two weeks later, the Rebels blew a double-digit lead and lost in overtime at LSU. They were written off, ridiculed and laughed at. I have no doubt there were some dark moments in the Manning Center, but somewhere along the way, a switch was flipped.

After a first-half slumber against Oklahoma, Ole Miss has now played 10 dominant, consecutive quarters. The Rebels rallied to whip Oklahoma, mauled Arkansas in Fayetteville and then, on a wet Saturday in Oxford, dominated No. 2 Georgia en route to a 28-10 win.

I said all summer one of the things I wondered about was how Ole Miss, a program that — during my 17 years on the beat, at least — had taken motivation from being overlooked and disrespected would find external motivation when the traditional avenue wasn’t available.

Ole Miss dominated the non-conference portion of its schedule, cruising to 4-0 with zero resistance. None. That’s not necessarily anyone’s fault, mind you, but when Kentucky arrived in Oxford in late September, the Rebels hadn’t absorbed a punch.

Kentucky landed one body blow after another on that early afternoon in Oxford. Ole Miss answered but couldn’t knock the Wildcats out. Tre Harris fumbled. Brock Vandagriff connected with Barion Brown. Caden Davis missed. Kentucky won.

After a win at South Carolina, the Rebels got their swagger back. They dominated LSU for the better part of three quarters but couldn’t finish the Tigers off. Instead, Garrett Nussmeier made plays and, ultimately, Ole Miss ran out of answers.

Weeks later, at 8-2 overall and 4-2 in the Southeastern Conference, Ole Miss is poised to make the CFP. The Rebels have a dominant defense, a veteran, savvy quarterback, an improving offensive line, solid special teams and — perhaps most importantly — a massive chip on their collective shoulder.

As I wrote Saturday night, Ole Miss is a title contender. Anyone with eyes can see it. The Rebels just needed some adversity, some self-doubt and some external ridicule to light the fire necessary to get to this point.