Mike Bianco expects his team to play live baseball at some point this weekend, so he’d rather it be against another team in the SEC Tournament.

The five-seed Rebels play No. 12 seed Auburn in the fourth and final game of the day with the loser going home and the winner advancing to face No. 4 seed Vanderbilt on Wednesday.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday games in Hoover are double elimination before single elimination semifinals and the final on Saturday and Sunday. The Rebels and Tigers play 30 minutes after the LSU-Georgia game scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Bianco mentioned Ray Tanner on Monday, the former South Carolina coach who won two national championships and played for two others but consistently exited the SEC Tournament early in the week.

Tanner was known to read his team well and simulate games back in Columbia as a decent amount of time passed between the conference tournament and regional play.

“I’m sure we’ll intrasquad at some point if we exit early,” Bianco said. “A lot of that just depends… I remember Ray Tanner years ago got eliminated in the first game and went back home and intrasquaded and went on to win the national championship. I remember him talking about how they needed a wake-up call and they needed a rest.”

The Rebels are shorter on proven pitching than past years, when they’ve made considerable runs in suburban Birmingham. Ole Miss is 8-3 in the past two SEC Tournaments, advancing to the championship both years and winning the title in 2018.

Ole Miss lost in a home regional to Tennessee Tech in 2018 and swept through the 2019 Oxford Regional without issue.

“If you don’t play well the next week, people blame it on you were in Hoover too long or you weren’t playing well enough at the end,” Bianco said. “It’s a mixed bag. It’s such a neat event. I know everyone wants to come here and perform and play well.

“It’s a grind and a tough playing on Tuesday and it’s a grind to Sunday, but we’ve been pretty successful the last few years of getting to the weekend. Hopefully this club has enough in them to do that.”

Ole Miss ace Doug Nikhazy will match up with Auburn senior Jack Owen on Tuesday.

[Related: Nikhazy to start on Tuesday vs. AU]

Auburn is No. 96 in the RPI and won three of its final four SEC series after losing six straight to begin the conference season.

The Rebels swept Auburn to start SEC play, winning 1-0, 6-5 and 19-11.

Owen (2-4, 4.84) was injured to start the year and made his season debut against Ole Miss in relief on March 21. The left-hander allowed four hits and five runs with two walks in 0.1 innings.

His best start against of the year versus an opponent in the top half of the league was a seven-inning, two-run effort against Florida, and last week Owen gave up two runs, both unearned, in 6.2 innings against Mizzou with seven strikeouts.

Owen threw 2.1 scoreless relief innings against Ole Miss in 2019 and a scoreless relief inning versus the Rebels in 2018.