Even before Friday’s second-round NIT game between Ole Miss and Memphis, Rebels sophomore guard Terrico White looked around a loud and fairly packed Tad Smith Coliseum. “The crowd is crazy,” he said. “That’s pretty good.”
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A crowd of about 3,000 people chose to attend Ole Miss’ first-round NIT game with Troy on Wednesday.  That won’t be the case when the Rebels host Memphis at 6:30pm ET in today’s second round.

All general admission tickets are already sold out. 

The game is expected to be an up-tempo affair with a couple of Rebels (Terrico White and Reggie Buckner) facing off against their hometown team.  It will be fast.  It will be heated.

It will also be the first meeting between the teams since 2006.  And Memphis and Oxford are little more than an hour apart, in case you’re wondering.

If you want to catch what should be a dang entertaining game, you can view it on ESPN2.

Wait.  Did I just suggest you watch an NIT game instead of the NCAA tournament?  Sorry.  My bad.

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Ole Miss fans were treated to a Terrico White show last night in Oxford.  Or should I say the 3,000 that went to UM’s game were treated to a Terrico White show?

White poured in 27 points to lead the Rebels past Troy 84-65 in a more-than-half-empty Tad Smith Coliseum.  Ole Miss will now host Memphis at 6:30pm ET tomorrow.

Eniel Polynice also returned to action for Mississippi.  Polynice had not played since coming off a one-game suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

Ole Miss’ NCAA hopes in jeopardy
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Ole Miss needed a quality victory to impress the NCAA Tournament selection committee on Friday. Instead, the Rebels presented another example why the National Invitation Tournament folks will have Ole Miss on speed dial when bids are extended Sunday.
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1.  Ole Miss has gotten some good luck when it comes to other bubble teams around the nation losing.  Today against Tennessee, Andy Kennedy says, “We’ve got to make our own good luck.”

2.  Kennedy says UT has more depth than when his Rebels faced them in Knoxville.

3.  UM might not be playing for its tournament life had it held on to a 12-point second-half lead against the Vols in that January matchup.

4.  Ole Miss can’t let Wayne Chism go off for 26 points again.

5.  Kennedy still isn’t being clear about whether the Rebels’ leading assist man, Eniel Polynice, will play today.

6.  Of his team’s lackluster 59-49 win over LSU yesterday, Bruce Pearl said, “If we play like that tomorrow… we’ll get beat.”

7.  From slick basketballs to tight rims, Tennessee’s players had a lot of excuses for their poor performance.

8.  Scotty Hopson — UT’s leading scorer — is just 1-for-18 shooting at the Bridgestone Arena this year.  “I’ll come out with a different mind-set; who knows, I might get 30.”  (Now that’s the kind of nonchalance a coach likes to hear.)

9.  Hopson expects to see more zone the rest of the way.  “The zone definitely slows us down.”

10.  As we predicted yesterday, Pearl did pull out the old “survive and advance” line about his team’s performance.

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Ole Miss’ Chris Warren has been named the SEC Player of the Week.  IN leading the Rebels to a 2-0 record last week, the point guard averaged 26.5 points and three assists per game against LSU and Arkansas.

Alabama forward Tony Mitchell has been named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week.  Mitchell averaged 14.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in wins over South Carolina and Auburn.

Obviously the league made a mistake on Mitchell’s award.  I though only Kentucky freshmen could win this honor. 

(Kidding.  No need to send emails.)

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Rebels earn a share of the SEC West title.
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Win over LSU would improve chance at West’s No. 2 seed
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Ole Miss turned on the comeback jets but with an unlikely pilot at the wheel, Trevor Gaskins.
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Ole Miss forward Murphy Holloway pulled a page out of his Richard M. Nixon playbook and wants to make one thing perfectly clear.
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Luke Skywalker, anyone?  Or perhaps Ghandi.  To be more racially sensitive, how about Rosa Parks?  James Dean or Marlon Brando?  Maybe someone dressed up as Che Guevara?  Leon Trotsky?  How ’bout Spartacus?  I’m guessing Fidel Castro won’t work, though it would look pretty funny.

Yep, the Ole Miss student body voted yesterday to replace the retired “Colonel Reb” mascot with something new.  And for the life of me I can’t think of a well-known rebel who’s likeness would work AND would not conjure up images of the Civil War.  I don’t really believe any of the above options — or Admiral Ackbar — will wind up walking the UM sidelines.

All told, 2,510 of 3,366 students voting said that they wanted a say in just what does replace the old southern gentleman mascot who last walked the sidelines in 2003.

One student said, “Look, a lot of people love Colonel Reb, and everyone knows the whole situation hasn’t been handled well.  But he’s not coming back.  And if we’re going to have a new mascot, I want the students to be a part of it.”

UM will now create a student committee to help develop ideas for a new mascot. 

I still think a giant, walking Magnolia tree would work.  As one radio host suggested to me yesterday, students could roll him with toilet paper after a victory.

Or maybe UM could just pay John Grisham to pace the sidelines.

It appears that the biggest news of the day in the SEC will involve a man (or woman) in a big furry suit of some sort.  Yep, it’s mascot day in Oxford.

The Ole Miss student body will vote today on whether or not to replace the old Colonel Reb mascot (retired in 2003) with a new living mascot on the UM sidelines.

Now, I for one understand why Ole Miss stopped using the Confederate battle flag in association with their school.  And I certainly understand why they have tried to modernize their overall image and distance their university from its much-publicized racially-charged past.

That said, I never had much of a problem with the big-headed old man who prowled the Rebels’ sidelines.  He was just an old Southern gentleman, not a soldier.  To find a problem with Colonel Reb, I suppose one would have to draw the conclusion that he was a slave-owner… which to me requires about one more iota of brainwork than I usually spend on mascots of any kind.

My usual thought process regarding a mascot goes something like this: “Huh, big dog.”  Not: “I wonder if that breed of dog is actually a proper choice for a mascot because truth be told it isn’t actually native to this area.”

To me, if the old man was a problem, then the Rebels nickname itself is a problem.  ‘Cause I’m not sure how you say “Rebels” without actually referring in some way to — ya know — the actual Civil War. 

That said, I don’t think anyone associated with Ole Miss would want to revert back to UM’s pre-Rebels nickname: The Flood, which was dropped in 1936.

While the debate rages, the writer Otis L. Sanford of The Memphis Commercial-Appeal — a graduate of Mississippi — makes clear that Ole Miss has already improved itself with regards to racial harmony.

Cathryn Stout — formerly of The MCA — wonders if the debate will continue to rage even after today’s vote.  (A group of Rebel fans chanted “The South Will Rise Again” at football games last year, so yes, I’m guessing the debate will continue.)

Regardless (and for those that say “irregardless,” that’s not actually a word), UM did dump Colonel Reb seven years ago… and the vote for a new mascot comes today.

Students will decide first of all if they want to have a say in the picking of a new mascot.  If they vote “no,” then there’s a chance UM will remain mascotless for the foreseeable future.

If the students vote that they DO want a say, then the next step will be some sort of follow-up vote to pick the new sideline-walker.

The results of the all-day referendum will be announced tonight. 

Some folks are taking a light-hearted view of what Ole Miss should use as a new mascot.  (“Return of the Jedi” fans only.)

Others point out correctly that a few schools in the SEC already have mascots that have no ties to their actual nicknames (an elephant for the Crimson Tide and a hound dog for the Volunteers).

Since I believe there will be a vote to create a new mascot, the question then becomes: Where will UM actually turn?  Your guess is as good as mine.

A colonial rebel — as in a Revolutionary War soldier — has been proposed.  Because when you think “Revolutionary War,” you think Mississippi.

A riverboat gambler has been mentioned.  Not bad.  That actually might work… as long as he looks like a post-Civil War riverboat gambler.

Perhaps Ole Miss could take a cue from Stanford and just suit someone up as a tree.  A big magnolia walking the sidelines would be a hoot.  And it’s not often that I use the word “hoot.”

Either way, the debate — in my opinion — is just beginning.

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With each passing day, there’s less mystery surrounding the postseason destination for Ole Miss.
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An Ole Miss football player died suddenly Friday after a workout at the school’s weight room.
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Two SEC teams with their “backs against the wall” need to get something going, soon.
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The timing couldn’t be better for Ole Miss.  Andy Kennedy’s team is seated squarely on the NCAA bubble.  Vanderbilt comes to Oxford tomorrow.  Florida visits this weekend.

With a pair of near-must-win games on the horizon, the Rebels should finally have their best post player back when Reggie Buckner returns tomorrow night from a sprained ankle.

Buckner has missed UM’s last four games, three of which the Rebels lost.  Mississippi was 16-4, 4-1 in the conference prior to losing their best post defender… but they now stand at just 17-7, 5-5 in the SEC.

How much will the Rebels’ forward be able to contribute?

“He’s getting better, but you just don’t know,” Kennedy said.  “He’s being a little tentative.  It’s a confidence issue.  He’s got his strength back and most the swelling is gone. … It just comes down to pain tolerance and how mobile he’s going to be.”

Even if he’s less than 100%, Buckner’s return should help as the Rebels try to deal with Vanderbilt’s AJ Ogilvy and his equally tall backup, Festus Ezeli.

The No. 25-ranked Rebels overcame a 23-point second-half deficit and hit free throws at the end to beat Alabama 74-67 before 7,601 fans at Tad Smith Coliseum.
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They take on Alabama at 5 p.m., today at Tad Smith Coliseum.
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On February 23rd Ole Miss students will vote on whether or not to create a new on-field mascot for university athletic events… or go without one as is currently the case.

Back in 2003, Colonel Reb was retired because folks worried that the long-whiskered Southern gentleman might conjure up negative images of the Old South.

I’m all for removing the Rebel flag from Mississippi sports because that banner — used in battle by an army representing slave states — is offensive to an enormous number of people.

But having said that (and yes, I do watch “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), there’s only so much you do when your school’s nickname is — you know — Rebels.

What type of mascot might Ole Miss students come up with?  A James Dean lookalike?

Or perhaps UM could pay Andre Aggasi to put on a wig and walk around on the sidelines with a camera.

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What happens when you hire a co-offensive coordinator who has been out of football for six of the last 10 years?  You get a backlash from the fanbase.

According to David Brandt of The Jackson Clarion-Ledger, Dave Rader’s hire at Ole Miss has been “about as popular as flatulence in an elevator.”  That gives you a pretty good idea of fan reaction, doesn’t it?

But as Mr. Brandt correctly points out, Nutt himself made Rader’s new position sound like more of a glorified quarterbacks coach than a true coordinator.

An org chart of UM’s offensive braintrust would still feature Nutt’s name way up at the top with the names of Rader (passing) and Mike Markuson (run game) well below.

Tyrone Nix runs the Rebels’ defense.  Nutt is the man who runs the Rebel offense.

But for those Ole Miss fans still worried, here’s what Rader got out of Alabama’s passing game from 2003 to 2006… his last four seasons in the biz (we list the main starter, but show combined numbers for all UA quarterbacks):

Croyle showed improvement under Rader… enough to be drafted into the NFL, in fact.  At Tulsa, Rader also worked with future NFL’er Gus Frerotte.

Verdict — No need to panic, Rebel fans.  The offense was likely going to take a step back in 2010 due to the losses of Dexter McCluster, Shay Hodge and Jevan Snead.  If Rader can help bring Mississippi’s young quarterbacks along over the course of the season, no one should be complaining too much as UM gears up for 2011.

And if it’s playcalling that upsets you next fall, well, that’ll be on Nutt anyway.  As we said above, Rader is more of a QBs coach than a true coordinator.

It took a while, but that Fox affiliate in Tulsa finally can gloat.  Houston Nutt officially announced the hiring of Dave Rader today as co-offensive coordinator.

The hiring of Rader also results in a promotion for Mike Markuson, UM’s offensive line coach.  Markuson was the Rebels’ run game coordinator last year.  Now he’ll bear the co-offensive coordinator.

As for Rader, Nutt said: “I was looking for a person with 10 or more years of coaching quarterbacks, a man with outstanding knowledge of the passing game and a man of great character.  We found that in Dave Rader.  He has experience teaching quarterbacks and helping them with the decision-making process.”

Rader will be called on to work his magic with a pair of untested QBs this fall — Nathan Stanley and Raymond Cotton.

Rader has been out of coaching for the past three seasons.

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A Tulsa television station reported last week that former Alabama assistant and Tulsa head coach Dave Rader would be hired as Ole Miss’ new offensive coordinator. 

Well, it’s a new week and an official hire still hasn’t been made.  From all indications, it’s currently a three-man race for the job with Rader, Patrick Nix and Steve Kragthorpe believed to still be in the running.

Parrish Alford of The Northeast Mississippi Journal reports that Nutt told him over the weekend that he would make a hire today… or on Thursday after national signing day.

Rader served as Alabama’s offensive coordinator under Mike Shula and had had a long tenure as Tulsa’s top man dating back to the late ’80s.  Rader was out of coaching this past year.

Nix — the former Auburn quarterback — was let go by Miami this season and most fans of “the U” were happy with the move.  In all fairness to Nix, there’s no more disliked figure at most schools than the guy who coordinates the offense… whether he deserves scorn or not.

Kragthorpe is the most intriguing candidate.  Fired by Louisville after three dismal seasons as the Cardinals’ head coach, it might be a surprise for him to take an OC job.  Prior to Louisville, he had been a very successful head coach at Tulsa.  (Apparently Nutt has kept close watch on the Golden Hurricane program.)

Whoever lands the job will most likely only oversee the passing game.  Mike Markuson is the Rebels’ offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

Also, Nutt will likely continue to have a big, big hand in playcalling.

That means the new coordinator will need to be okay with having a pretty limited role in decision-making.

No wonder the top three candidates for the gig appear to be men who are currently out of work.

The re-emergence of Terrico White was the spark Ole Miss needed in the second half at Auburn on Thursday night.
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There’s a reason I put the word “report” in the headline of our first “Dave Rader to Ole Miss” story today… I didn’t trust the Fox affiliate in Tulsa to be an accurate source.  No offense to the fine folks at that station, but news is rarely broken by television reporters. 

Take it from me, I’ve spent the last 19 years working in television.  TV stations are MUCH more likely to run with rumors.

Now does that mean Rader won’t eventually land the Ole Miss offensive coordinator job?  Of course not.  But there are other stories out there that seem to suggest Rader is still in the running for the job… not THE runaway leader for the job.

Parrish Alford of The Northeast Mississippi Journal reports that Houston Nutt told him that he wants to make a hire by Monday. 

Nutt also said that David Lee (Dolphins), Gunter Brewer (Oklahoma State), Hugh Freeze (San Jose State), Steve Kragthorpe (former head coach at Louisville) and Will Hall (Division II West Alabama) are all candidates for Kent Austin’s old gig.  And Nutt said that an unnamed NFL candidate is also in the mix.

As for Rader, UM might not be his only option, either.  A group of Oklahoma Republicans want him to run for Congress.