Vassallo: Rebels, Tide Shining Lights for SEC

Ole Miss Rebels huddles before the Memphis game, photo by Joshua McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics

The college football bowl week is upon us. What a strange year for the SEC! Only Ole Miss and Alabama are entered in New Year’s Six Bowls, again as in 2014. What has separated these two powerhouses from the other 12 teams in the league?

We’ll get to this in a minute, but first, let’s evaluate where we all are currently within the league.

The College Football Playoff Rankings has

• Alabama 2
• Ole Miss 12
• Florida 19
• LSU 20
• and Tennessee 25.

These teams’ bowl opponents are as follows:

• Michigan State 3
• Oklahoma State 16
• Michigan 14
• Texas Tech Not Ranked
• and Northwestern 13.

The AP has the following teams ranked in this following order:

• Alabama 2, Michigan State 3
• Ole Miss 16, Oklahoma State 13
• Florida 19, Michigan 17
• LSU 22, Texas Tech Not Ranked
• Tennessee 23, Northwestern 12

The Coaches Poll shows Georgia at 25 with Tennessee not included in the Top 25.

And according to the current college football odds in Las Vegas, eight of the ten SEC bowl teams are favorite:

• Alabama 10 over Michigan State
• Ole Miss 7 over Oklahoma State
• Tennessee 8 1/2 over Northwestern
• LSU 7 1/2 over Texas Tech
• Auburn 3 over Memphis
• Arkansas 12 over Kansas State
• MSU 5 over North Carolina State
• and GA 6 1/2 over Penn State

The two underdogs are Texas A&M 4 1/2 to Louisville and FL 4 to Michigan.

I recently asked Coach Freeze the question above about Ole Miss and Alabama and the word “consistency” was a prominent part of his answer. Looking back at this season, the Rebs displayed consistency as well as anyone despite the massive number of injuries. When Coach Freeze arrived four years ago, this was all I was hoping for: consistency.

And how have we ever accomplished this and so much more!

I am hoping for both a bowl victory and a top five recruiting class. And according to the experts, we should accomplish both. It will also be fun watching our next opponent, Florida State, go up against Houston.

Rebel Nation, we have arrived back in the big time thanks to a coaching staff that never quits!

Steve Vassallo is a HottyToddy.com contributor. Steve writes on Ole Miss athletics, Oxford business, politics and other subjects. He is an Ole Miss grad and former radio announcer for the basketball team. Currently, Steve is a highly successful leader in the real estate business who lives in Oxford with his wife Rosie. You can contact Steve at sovassallo@gmail.com or call him at 985-852-7745.

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