Ole Miss

Now that I've gotten those worthless teams done with, I can move on to some more interesting topics. First, we have Ole Miss. Ed Orgeron really has this team headed in the right direction, and I was definitely impressed with his recruiting. Getting QB Brent Schaeffer to Ole Miss will have a huge impact on the Rebs, and apparently every sportswriter commenting on Ole Miss believes transfer RB Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis is the next coming of Barry Sanders. Count me among the disbelievers. However, if he is half as good as everyone thinks he is (or wants to believe he is), Ole Miss' offense will be vastly improved. Duel-threat QB + decent RB = more wins than last year. The defense was surprisingly stout last year, and this year probably will not be any different. If the offense can establish possession for longer than thirty second intervals, the defense may be able to hold up deeper into games, as well. In short, Ole Miss is not there yet, but they will be a player and may well knock some people off that they aren't supposed to.

Here's the schedule breakdown, rather quickly.

Memphis should be a win for the Rebs, but the Missouri game should be good. Even after losing QB Brad Smith, most college football analysts think Missouri got better. If Ole Miss can win this one for the SEC, that may prove at the end of the season to be a nice knotch in its belt. As I have seen neither team play yet this year (or even scrimmage for that matter), I can't pick a winner. Kentucky should be a win. Wake Forest is next, and though this game may prove intersting, it's another opportunity for the SEC to make some out of conference noise. Yes, it's just Wake, but a win over the ACC is a win over the ACC. So take it. Wake tends to rely heavily on the run, and if there's one thing that Ole Miss was good at last year, it was stopping the run. With that in mind, I think Ole Miss has a great chance in this one, and I think they'll pull it out. Georgia is a loss, and Vandy is a win. The next two games are two close to call. For Alabama and Arkansas, I'll get back to you. Auburn is a loss, Northwestern State (who the hell is that?) is a win, LSU is a loss, and Miss. State should be a win. Your final tally: Ole Miss will fall between 9-3 (their "perfect" season) and 5-7. They have a lot of swing games. I'll narrow it down as the season goes on.