According to CoachingSearch.com's Pete Roussel, ESPN's College GameDay has already booked its rooms in Oxford for the weekend of October 4th, when the No. 10 Rebels will face No. 3 Alabama. CBS just selected the game for its nationally featured 2:30 p.m. spot with Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson. The stage is set for the biggest game that Ole Miss has played in more than 50 years. National exposure aside, if the Rebels were to win they would become an instant contender for the first ever College Football Playoff.
The only team that stands in the way of all that is Memphis.
Memphis. You know the one. Think Liberty Bowl, Joe Lee Dunn, Tommy West. Memphis.
In some ways the Tigers are a good historical fit for the Rebels to face as a play-in to a chance at Football Glory. Ole Miss has a long history against the Tigers. The Rebels own the series with a 42-10 record and won the last five meetings, the most recent being a 45-14 win under Houston Nutt in 2009. Ross Bjork renewed the series in 2012. It was probably a good move. The Tigers are nearby and they give the Rebels a game in the Memphis area, Hugh Freeze's home turf, and in most years Ole Miss will be a heavy favorite. The Ole Miss record books are filled with blowouts of Memphis, but there have also been close calls, a tie (17-17 under Billy Brewer in 1985) and a few very unpleasant losses.
Those losses are the games Hugh Freeze should recount to his team this week.
Remember 2003? All eyes were one Ole Miss that year, too. The Rebels were a trendy SEC pick and senior quarterback Eli Manning was an early Heisman contender. Ole Miss took the short bus ride up to Memphis, and got its butt handed to it by the Tigers.
Click here to travel back in time to that horrible day.
It happened again in 2004, and probably led to David Cutcliffe's ouster.
Losing to Memphis in 2014 would be a worse face plant than either of those. Not only would it cost the Rebels a Top 10 ranking and a visit from College GameDay, but 14th ranked Mississippi State is directly over Ole Miss' shoulder, and the embarrassment would be so real I predict most of you would call in sick at work on Monday.
Memphis has always taken the Ole Miss game quite personal. Aside from that chip on its shoulder that comes with being from an inferior conference, many of the kids who have played for the Tigers over the years feel like they were overlooked by Ole Miss, and they play the game with something to prove.
On paper Ole Miss is the far more talented team, but emotions like those Memphis will bring can be very dangerous to the Rebels.
The Tigers will visit Oxford sporting a 2-1 record that includes a near upset of then #11 UCLA (the game was tied at 35-35 in the 4th quarter before the Bruins scored the winning TD), and easy wins over Austin Peay (63-0) and Middle Tennessee (36-17).
Given what happened at UCLA on September 6th, it would be a mistake for anyone to consider Memphis a pushover, even if Ole Miss is currently a 20-point favorite. Given what the Rebels have to play for, it would be tragic for Ole Miss to give anything less than 100 percent of their attention to the Tigers this weekend. Us fans have every right to look forward to October 4th, but Hugh Freeze would do well to give his team the riot act about keeping their eyes locked on the Tigers.
The bye week is over. It's time to play.
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