by Gray Hardison
Many places have thoroughly broken down the matchup between Ole Miss and Pittsburgh in terms of numbers and other boring, yet accurate things. And more than likely, those breakdowns will give you a much better idea of how the game is going to go than what you're about to read.
But, we all know football isn't always about the meaty goodness of numbers. No, there are other factors in play that don't concern things like sacks allowed (Pitt is 101st!) and sacks by (Ole Miss is 15th). While some may scoff and call these factors trivial, and they might be right, these factors could matter somewhat.
With that in mind, let us examine seven factors which have been egregiously overlooked since this game was announced some weeks back. Through these factors and these factors alone, our winner will be determined.
Head Coach Retweets
In Paul Chryst's defense, it doesn't appear that he has a Twitter account, so this fight is a little unfair, but too bad because SO IS LIFE. Even if Chryst did have an account, Hugh Freeze would lead by over 14,000. Lots of birthdays out there.
ADVANTAGE: Ole Miss
Players With Music Videos/Songs About Them
Most of you are aware of the "Feed Moncrief" video, which sufficiently covers Ole Miss in this area. After an extensive* Google search, I found no musical numbers. I suppose there is still time for Jackie Sherrill to write a ballad about Dan Marino, but I'm not counting on it.
While there were no Pitt videos, I was reminded about this fantastic video of Pat White in 2006 doing his version of the Panther growl.
*not extensive at all
ADVANTAGE: Ole Miss
Players With Preliminary Hearings On January 9th Concerning An Alleged Assault
Ole Miss checks in with zero, while Pitt has three, including starting running back Ray Graham and wide receiver Devin Street. People may consider this to not be [insert something about class and stuff], but I am not one of those people.
ADVANTAGE: Pitt
Players Sharing A Name With The Washington Redskins Head Coach
Mike Shanahan leads Pitt with 926 yards receiving and 5 touchdowns. Ole Miss has no Mike Shanahan on the roster.
ADVANTAGE: Pitt
Fans More Excited To Be At The Compass Bowl
I'm looking forward to the looks on the faces of the 800 Pitt fans who show up for the game, as they wonder why so many people would voluntarily travel to Birmingham and Legion Field. The answer to that is the Houston Nutt era.
Rather than go to the Compass Bowl, Pitt fans would prefer to watch a video of foxes jumping on a trampoline.
In their defense, it's pretty fun to watch.
ADVANTAGE: Ole Miss
Familiarity With The Land
This marks the third consecutive January in which Pitt will play a football game in Birmingham, thus making their knowledge of the city and Legion Field only slightly behind that of local residents. I believe the last time Ole Miss went to Birmingham, we played Alabama back when Legion Field had an upper deck before it began to crumble into the lower deck and was removed.
ADVANTAGE: Pitt
Most Second Half Collapses
While Pitt had the most famous of the assembled group when they blew a 20-6 lead against Notre Dame, Ole Miss has more, with second half leads melted away against Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, and LSU. You may wonder why this would be an advantage and it's because wailing and gnashing of teeth is one of the leading builders of character.
ADVANTAGE: Ole Miss
With a 4-3 edge in seemingly unimportant factors, Ole Miss is the pick to beat Pitt in the Compass Bowl. Let's hope the final score is not 4-3 because some of us have Ole Miss at -3 and the over/under at +52 and would like to see a financial, as well as an emotional reward.
