HottyToddy.com’s Daily Ole Miss 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 day throughout the year. Here at HottyToddy.com, we are doing all the leg work to find the information that people may want to hear about Ole Miss sports.

Today’s roundup features Ole Miss Sports and Saturday Down South.

Post-spring SEC bowl projections

If any media member or fan sounds convinced they know which four teams are going to make the College Football Playoff this season, send them my way.

I’d be happy to put up some of my hard-earned cash on “the field” vs. whichever combination of teams they’re touting — with the exception of Alabama, which is gunning for its fifth national championship in eight years.

It’s very difficult to project the four best teams, much less pinpoint exactly how all 14 teams in the SEC are going to finish. That’s plenty of time for injuries, suspensions — and before we sound too depressing, newcomers to emerge as serious contributors.

RELATED: Post-spring SEC power rankings

Several impact players haven’t even arrived on campuses yet and did not participate in spring practice. Some quarterback competitions will linger into the fall, and we know there will be personnel changes that arise between now and September — both within the SEC and within several high-profile programs that SEC teams will face during the non-conference schedule.

But we’re starting to have a good idea about what every SEC program will look like after spring practice. We’re also 11 weeks away from SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala., which signifies the coming of fall each year.

Courtesy of Christopher Smith and Saturday Down South

Three Rebels Make NFF Hampshire Honor Society

Photo by Jeff McVay

Three graduating members of the Ole Miss football program – Dillon Barrett, Matt Brown and Quintavius Burdette – have been recognized as members of the 2016 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, announced by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

The NFF Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college career. A total of 868 players from 275 schools qualified for membership as the society celebrates its 10th year, setting a new record for the number of players honored during the history of the program.

“The number of colleges and universities who embrace the Hampshire Honor Society continues to increase each year,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “Over the past decade, it has become a powerful vehicle for schools to recognize their college football players who have distinguished themselves both academically and athletically, and we congratulate the schools and each of these young men for their commitment to excellence.”

Barrett and Brown, who both saw time at tight end during their Rebel careers, were exceptional in the classroom. Barrett, a native of Dry Prong, Louisiana, who transferred to Ole Miss from Lamar University, maintains a 3.56 grade point average in criminal justice. Brown, who hails from Cordova, Tennessee, has a 3.7 GPA as a chemical engineering major.

Burdette, a member of both the football and track teams at Ole Miss, maintains a 3.47 GPA as an accountancy major with a minor in general finance. The Senatobia, Mississippi, native who played wide receiver on the gridiron participated in a prestigious internship with accounting firm KPMG this semester.

Past Ole Miss members of the Hampshire Honor Society include Deterrian Shackelford (2015), Tyler Campbell (2014), Chris Conley (2014), Andrew Ritter (2014), Joel Kight (2013) and Wesley Phillips (2011).

The NFF Hampshire Honor Society capitalizes on the NFF’s National Scholar-Athlete program by greatly expanding the number of scholar-athletes the NFF can recognize each year. The program further strengthens the organization’s leadership role in encouraging academic performance by the student-athletes who play football at the 775 colleges and universities with football programs nationwide.

The 868 players honored in 2016 is a new high water mark, eclipsing the previous record of 838 honorees in 2014. The initiative has honored 6,620 student-athletes since its inception, and the program has experienced growth every year in either members or school participation since its launch in 2007.

Qualifications for membership in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society include:

• Being a starter or a significant contributor in one’s last year of eligibility (or a senior who has declared for the NFL Draft) at an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III or an NAIA college or university;
• Achieving a 3.2 cumulative grade point average throughout entire course of undergraduate study; and
• Meeting all NCAA/NAIA-mandated progress towards degree requirements.

Follow Ole Miss Football on Twitter at @OleMissFB, as well as Facebook and Instagram. For more information, visit www.OleMissSports.com.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

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