MORE: 10 Weekend Thoughts | Rebs beat Carolina in SEC opener
The past calendar year was an uneven and transitional one for Ole Miss athletics. The lengthy NCAA ordeal mostly ended, and the Hugh Freeze era turned into the beginning of Matt Luke's tenure as head coach. Ole Miss' olympic sports had great moments while the basketball and baseball teams sputtered to disappointing seasons.
As we do each year, here are 10 dates that should be of interest in 2018. And here's the 2017 list if you want to go back and check our work.
Date: Feb. 7, 2018
Significance: Ole Miss signed 14 prospects during the early signing period in December and likely has six-to-nine spots remaining for more to join the class next month. Luke and his staff did an impressive job stabilizing the 2018 recruiting class with prospects who should be able to fill holes in the roster and provide playable stability sooner or later. The Rebels may have also gotten their quarterback of the future with Rivals100 prospect Matt Corral.
Ole Miss has a legitimate chance to crack the top 30 nationally and hit a lot of needs in February, something that didn't seem at all likely when the calendar turned to December.
Date: March 12, 2018
Significance: It's the day after Selection Sunday for men's basketball, and by that time we'll know how the SEC slate went for Ole Miss and whether the program is about to begin -- or has begun -- its transition to a new head coach. This conversation, that is typical when a coach has Andy Kennedy's longevity, picked up steam when his contract wasn't extended in the offseason. What Ole Miss basketball should be is a constant argument inside the Ole Miss fan base, and AK's resume is dotted with tons of accomplishments relative to the program's history but only two NCAA Tournament berths which are used fervently by his detractors.
Ole Miss beat South Carolina in its SEC opener last night after suffering five nonconference losses. In a couple months, this storyline will play out one way or the other.
Date: Spring 2018
Significance: The exact date is impossible to know, but Ole Miss will complete its Oxford-University Stadium renovation sometime during the season. The Rebels will play at Swayze Field all season, but some of the bells and whistles won't be complete by opening day. There's a new field club area and tons of improved amenities for the players underneath the grandstand.
While Swayze has looked great since the 2009 additions, player comfort areas had lagged behind many stadiums in the conference. The SEC is a continuous facilities race, and this caps off major improvements of all three major sports structures in the past few years. There have also been excellent facility upgrades for tennis, volleyball and other sports.
The O-U Stadium plan wasn't a necessity like The Pavilion, but it does show the continued athletic department commitment necessary at this level.
Date: May 28, 2018
Significance: Ole Miss learns its postseason baseball situation on Memorial Day. The Rebels missed the postseason in 2017, marking the third time that's happened in Mike Bianco's 17 seasons. The Rebels' freshmen class was the No. 1 group in the nation, but it took its lumps transitioning to the Division I level. With a deep and talented pitching staff, the expectations are there for Ole Miss to rebound and make some noise nationally.
Frankly, Ole Miss needs to hear its name called on May 27 when the 16 host sites are announced, but either way there will be much frustration if the Rebels aren't set up well and comfortably in the picture when brackets are announced that Monday morning.
Date: Sept. 1, 2018
Significance: Luke will coach his first game without the interim tag when Ole Miss opens its season in Houston against Texas Tech. There should be plenty of points in this one, and it's a critical one for the Rebels to try to start 2-0 (Southern Illinois is week two) before Alabama comes to Oxford.
Projecting games this far out is fairly useless, but it's much more difficult to find a winning season for the Rebels without the win over the Red Raiders. It's the first of three neutral site nonconference games over the next four years, as Ole Miss faces Baylor in Houston in 2020 and Louisville in Atlanta in 2021. California visits Oxford in 2019, and Ole Miss has home and home dates set with Georgia Tech and Wake Forest in 22-23 and 24-25, respectively.
Date: Sept. 9, 2018
Significance: This is a bit off topic, but Ole Miss has had one of the most well known and popular players in its history as the quarterback in New York since 2004. That's a good marketing situation to be a part of, and Eli Manning's future is at least somewhat up in the air as the 2017 closed. The Giants hired Dave Gettleman as its general manager and will have a new coach soon. With New York having the second overall pick and multiple quarterbacks projected around that spot in the Draft, is the Eli era over in the Big Apple?
This date is the NFL season opener, and it could bring about notable change for the Giants at the quarterback position. Ole Miss' most marketable former player could be grooming his replacement or elsewhere by this time.
Date: Nov. 22, 2018
Significance: The Egg Bowl is an annual occupant on this list, and it is again for multiple reasons. It will be the first edition of Luke versus MSU head coach Joe Moorhead. Dan Mullen's tenure in the rivalry was defined by an increased toxicity between the fanbases and the rise of national relevance with the programs for a bit with him and Freeze. It's possible things simmer down a bit from current hostility levels, but the game will give us a year to see how it's changed shape -- if it has at all.
Also, Ole Miss will be finishing its season and NCAA on-the-field punishment if it loses its appeal. If the Rebels win the appeal, this one could be for bowl eligibility.
Date: Dec. 19, 2018
Significance: This will be an important day for the Ole Miss football program, with the heralded 2019 in-state class able to sign during the early signing period. Mississippi is loaded with nine Rivals250 members, and the Rebels have snagged some momentum in recent weeks after Mississippi State had a lot of early inroads with many on the list.
Ole Miss needs its share of the top players, especially considering that six of the nine are on the defensive side of the ball and two are athletes who could be inserted at multiple spots. Jerrion Ealy, a two-sport star and likely professional baseball player, is Ole Miss' current commit on the list, though the Rebels have made a serious charge for Forest athlete Diwun Black.
Also, official visits can now start in April for rising seniors because of the early signing period.
Date: After the football regular season
Significance: This may be the first date on the 2019 list instead of known by this spot, but at some point late in the year or after the season Ole Miss' top players will decide whether to enter the NFL Draft. Hopefully they stay healthy and can make this decision with all factors being on the positive side. Wide receiver A.J. Brown and offensive tackle Greg Little are the likeliest players to bypass their final years of eligibility, and DK Metcalf could also be a candidate to jump to the NFL by this time.
These are good problems to have for Ole Miss, as it needs to be able to boast draft picks and NFL players to prospects. However, the result of these decisions will shape the 2019 roster on the field.
Date: ?? ??, 2018
Significance: It will finally be over. The NCAA investigation and decision that has stretched into its sixth calendar year will be put to bed when an appeals committee hands down its ruling sometime in the first part of 2018. The Rebels are appealing the second year of a postseason ban, its lack of institutional control charge and a strange unofficial visitor restriction.
It seems the Rebels have survived the transfer issues that come with the multi-year ban, losing contributors but not a disastrous exodus, and are on the way to keeping the roster relatively intact for the coming season.
