HottyToddy.com Sports Roundup

Hottytoddy.com is giving readers a roundup of all the commentary and information about the Ole Miss Rebels from various publications around the Web.

Readers will be able to check out the latest information in a single post every week throughout the season. Here at HottyToddy.com, we are doing all the leg work to find the information that people want to hear about Ole Miss sports.

This week, the roundup will consist of articles on SEC Bowl projections, Sebastian Saiz and Torri Lewis.

Saturday Down South 

After Week 11, Collective Bowl Projections for the SEC

The biggest mystery in the SEC — like most of the Power 5 conferences aside from the ACC (Clemson) or Pac 12 (Stanford) — is which team, if any, will represent the conference in the College Football Playoff.

With only four spots, at least one Power conference is guaranteed of being left out. And that doesn’t even include possible complications such as a one-loss Notre Dame or undefeated Houston.

So we know somebody will be left out. It just better not be the SEC.

The SEC East, in general, isn’t favoring well in national bowl projections with Missouri, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and now Kentucky all projected to be out. The Wildcats had been projected to have some postseason action all season, but five consecutive losses and Kentucky is in danger of missing a bowl all together.

Courtesy of Alex Zorn at Saturday Down South to see the hole article click here.

The Rebel Walk

Emergence of Sebastian Saiz

In the last two seasons, Sebastian Saiz was more of a role post player for the Ole Miss men’s basketball team, taking a backseat to guards Marshall Henderson (2013-2014) and Stefan Moody (2014-2015) and allowing them to take deep jumpers. Now, Saiz is the one of the focal points of this year’s offensive attack for the Rebels.

In Monday night’s matchup against a younger, smaller Georgia Southern team, Saiz asserted himself in the paint, making the rim look the size of the Atlantic Ocean with his turnaround jump shots and soft-touching hook shots that barely touched the net.

Saiz played 31 minutes for the Rebels, finishing with 24 points, 17 rebounds, three blocks, a steal, and an assist in the 82-72 win over the Eagles. He was very efficient from the floor, going 8-for-14, and he also made his presence known from the free throw line, going 8-for-11.

In the team’s season-opening win over Northwestern State, Saiz had 16 points and 14 rebounds. For his career, Saiz has now recorded three doubles-doubles, but more could be on the horizon because of his eagerness to take advantage of each opportunity that comes his way.

Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy knew what type of “big” he had on the roster, knew what style of play Saiz was capable of showcasing, but it wasn’t up to Kennedy to make things happen. It was up to Saiz, who came into this season at 242-pounds—10 pounds heavier from a season ago.

Courtesy of Courtney Smith and the Rebel Walk to read more click here.

The Rebel Walk

Coach Matt Insell looks to play freshman Torri Lewis more this season

Every time a screen was set for Ole Miss freshman guard Torri Lewis, she was able to get a great look at the rim. Each time she had one of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defenders draped in her face, she didn’t back off and give it up. Instead, she spotted up with a quick release and nailed one three-pointer after another to bring the Rebels back to life on Sunday night.

Ole Miss Women’s head basketball coach Matt Insell was disappointed with his team’s defensive effort and lack of energy. He was even more baffled by the shot attempts that were being launched towards the basket. The Rebels were 11-of-34 from the field in the first half, staring at a 46-26 halftime deficit to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette—a team that was 6-of-10 from three-point range heading into the break.

Passion and points lead to court time for Lewis

So a lightbulb went off inside Insell’s head at halftime and he decided to go deep into his bench for some energy and passion—and he found it in Lewis. She did not disappoint, finishing with a team-high 20 points and shooting 6-of-7 from the 3-point line to lead Ole Miss (1-1) back from 20 points down, though the Rebels would eventually fall short to the Ragin’ Cajuns’ (1-0), 82-78.

In Insell’s mind, Lewis couldn’t do any worse than what he was seeing out on the court from his starters. Fortunately for the Ole Miss, Lewis did much, much better.

“One thing that popped up in my head was Torri may get beat off the dribble, but what’s different? Everyone else was getting beat off the dribble, too,” Insell said. “And I’m going to get her out there, because she will at least give me passion. She’s at least going to give me energy. And you saw what she can do shooting the basketball,” he added.

Courtesy of Courtney Smith and the Rebel Walk to read more click here.

Information gathered by HottyToddy.com Sports Staff