BRASSELL STUFF: The CL's Hugh Kellenberger reports that Brassell's gone. Blame it on Nutt (by me). Ole Miss sure is going to miss Brassell's cat coverage. 

OH BASEBALL: It's a good thing there's this Brassell thing to talk about because nobody wants to talk about the baseball team right now. The Rebels gave up three runs on three hits and got themselves shut out by the Vanderbilt Commodores last night. I'm sort of just ready for the season to end. I'm probably not suppossed to say that since I'm the Ole Miss Blogger, but it's just how I feel. I don't think this team has what it takes to survive a regional and they certainly aren't going to host. It won't suprise me if a Vanderbilt team playing for its NCAA life sweeps the Rebels this weekend. 

NEW BOWL GAME: Starting in 2014 the SEC Champion will play the Big 12 Champion in a prime time New Year's Day bowl game. Will this ever be relevant to Ole Miss? Probably not. I'm just telling you about it. The fact that the Rebels may never actually play in this game aside, it does sound like a compelling matchup. In reality this new game will most likely feature the No. 2 team from the SEC because the No. 1 team from the SEC will be in the new four-team playoff. Either way, it should be a good game. I'm glad I won't have to watch another No. 2 SEC team play a C-USA, Big East or MWC team again. It's a little amazing, if you think about it, that the Big 12 and the SEC have formed an alliance the year after Texas A&M and Missouri departed the Big 12 for the SEC. It's almost as though Slive and Chuck Neinas smoked a peace pipe together to join forces against the ACC, Big 10 and ACC. By tying in with the Big 12, the SEC has bolstered the Big 12's standing instantly in the college football power structure. Is this a sign of things to come? Might that four 16-team leagues thing we've been hearing about be even closer to reality? It seems that way.

UNDER THE LIGHTS: Ole Miss football will be featured on Sports South's Under the Lights Sunday night at 10 p.m. 

CHICK-FIL-A: I thought Ole Miss was playing Boise State in the 2014 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic? Looks like the Rebels have played themselves out of that game. What am I missing?

NEW WORLD ORDER: With the new playoff and SEC-Big 12 Bowl, it looks like here's a NEW WORLD ORDER in college football. Did Florida State and Miami to the Big 12 just become inevitable? I think so. And when that happens look for the SEC to finally get two more teams and the creme of the the Big East and what's left of the ACC to merge and the rest of the earth to melt away. MORE REALIGNMENT IS COMING!!!! 

And with that I'll just say that the best thing that ever happened to Ole Miss - and may ever happen to Ole Miss - was way back in 1932 when it was included in the SEC. The Rebels sure wouldn't want to be on the outside looking in when it comes to college football realignment. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Just ask Florida State and all those other saps in the ACC and Big East waiting for an invitation to the Big 12, SEC, Big 10....

The worst case scenario for Ole Miss and Nick Brassell came to fruition. He didn't do whatever it was he had to do to remain academically eligible and he is transferring from Ole Miss. Brassell is one of the most talented true freshmen that's seen the playing field for Ole Miss in a long time. Even Eli Manning didn't play as a true freshman. Brassell did, and he started both ways. He was a playmaker receiver and an "NFL corner" with blazing speed and oodles of talent. And now, as the final ending to one of the worst periods in Ole Miss football history, he's gone. Hopefully he'll be the only one, though coach Hugh Freeze has been saying three players have been in trouble. We don't know who the other two are yet. 

Losing Brassell is a blow, but let's get real here a for just a minute. Ole Miss was going to be one of the worst teams in the SEC next year with or without him. Having Brassell would have certainly helped, but this is a team that is going to be an underdog in every SEC game it plays even with Brassell on the field. Freeze didn't inherit a team on the cusp of greatness. He inherited a team on life support after two years of leadership failure.

Brassell is a casualty of a team-wide epidemic of entitlement. It's a disease that could have been prevented with discipline and oversight, but instead went unnoticed and untreated for two years until Ole Miss finally fired Houston Nutt. Freeze took over a program in complete disarray.

The Ole Miss football program in 2011 was like a house full of teenage children whose parents went on vacation for a week. When the parents come home the house looks like it's still standing, but there's toilet water in the fish bowl, burned couch cushions turned upside down, broken dishes in the garbage can and pictures covering holes in the wall (not that I ever did that, Mom).

It didn't take Freeze but a few weeks to realize he had huge problems in his new house. More than 20 players in academic trouble after a semester run amuck during four months of turmoil and no supervision. Freeze probably winced more than once as he uncovered the damage.

"Not everybody is going to make it," Freeze warned. He was right.

Now Brassell's gone and with him, hopefully, the final remnants of the sickness.

I'm not saying Brassell was the sickness. When an arm has gangrene it's not the arm's fault, it's the cut where the infection began, but for the body to live the arm's still got to be amputated. That's what Ole Miss had in Nick Brassell. He was infected just like the rest of the team, most of which is now safely in recovery. Sadly, Brassell's infection was too far gone and he had to be lopped off.

Unfortunately he did it to himself.  Even more unfortunate, he didn't have a coach in 2011 willing to do what it would take to try to save him. There's plenty of blame to go around, but you can start with Nutt, who was making way to many millions to just leave the house unattended.

AND ANOTHER THING: Several folks over on the Facebook page have appropriately pointed out that this is Brassell's fault and nobody else's. My response:

The reality in college football is that kids oftentimes need to be taken to class. It's not right. That's not the way "it should be," but that's just the way it is. And the responsibility problem isn't limited to athletes. Back when I was a student I knew kids that flunked out of Ole Miss who didn't go to class. However the only people that had a vested interest in them going to class was their parents. That's not the case with Brassell. All of Ole Miss had a vested interest in Brassell doing right. Yes, the responsibility is ultimately his, but absurdity rules in college football. If you want to win you do what it takes to get it done. Sometimes that includes dragging star athletes like Nick Brassell out of bed and getting them to the classroom and getting a tutor to do their homework with them/for them/whatever. 

Freeze to his acadmic compliance dude: "So what are Brassell's chances of being eligible to play next year?"

BASEBALL: Ole Miss baseball is ending its regular season this weekend against Vanderbilt in Nashville. I wrote a few things about it. Ole Miss baseball SID Bill Bunting has your notes. Red Cup Rebellion also has some thoughts. And the Spirit's Jeff Roberson also has it covered, complete with a picture of Mad Mike. I love Mad Mike pics.  

Home Run Derby: Not that it's a thing, but it's interesting to me. Zack Kirksey (13) and Matt Snyder (12) have been in an intersquad home run derby of sorts. Kirksey is 2nd to Florida's Mike Zunino (14). It'll be interesting to see how those two end up over the weekend. 

Ole Miss Depth Chart: Barrett Sallee, who shall forever be known as the first guest ever on Jake's Take on Rebel Sports Radio, has a post over on his SEC blog regarding the Ole Miss spring depth chart. However, be forewarned, I'm not sure one should read much into Nick Brassell's presence on the chart. More than 24 hours ago Chuck Rounsaville over on the Spirit message board (I try not to steal Chuck's info since he works hard for it, but after 24 hours I think we're good) wrote that things were looking bleak for Brassell academically. Bleak is bad. Hugh Kellenberger writes that three players are in trouble. 

ELI'S RING: Manning picked up his new diamond ring at Tiffany's in NYC last night. It weighs approximately 20 pounds and glows in the dark. The picture is right below this post, but in case you missed it. If you're jealous of Eli's ring you can have one, too. Or at least a virtual one. Here's how. 

Eli got his ring last night. Ain't it purdy?

Like Jake's OMB on Facebook

Follow Jake's OMB on Twitter

Listen to Jake's radio show

Ole Miss (34-19, 14-13 SEC) begins its last conference series of the season at Vanderbilt tonight. A glance at Vanderbilt's record might lull an opponent into thinking the Commodores are a good win opportunity, but that 26-25, 13-14 SEC record is deceiving. Vanderbilt is hot. The Commodores have won 9 of 12 SEC games and three straight SEC series, including a series win at No. 4 LSU last weekend.  They're also playing for their NCAA lives. While Ole Miss is widely considered a solid No. 2 seed and still holds on to hope that a series win and a big run in the SEC Tournament could land the Rebels a host position, the Commodores are just trying to make the tournament field. They need a sweep just as bad or worse than Ole Miss. The Rebels haven't won a road SEC series since Alabama back in March. All of it spells trouble for Ole Miss. After dropping that disappointing midweeker to Arkansas State on Tuesday night the last thing the Rebels need is to go into the SEC Tourney with a deflating series loss to Vandy. 

PERFECT PITCHING SCENARIO: With R.J. Hively being the first option out of the bullpen on Friday night and Bianco hoping he can still be the Sunday starter, the perfect pitching scenario for the Rebels looks a lot like what happened against Tennessee last weekend. Bobby Wahl needs to least 7.0 innings so Hively doesn't pitch more than two innings in relief.

TV: The game is in ESPNU at 6:30.  

GOOD NEWS FOR ME: In completely unrelated news, I just found out that drinking a few cups of coffee a day might help me live longer. That's pretty good news for a guy that drinks coffee until lunch every day, enjoys an occasional afternoon cup and a cup of decaf after supper.

 

Ole Miss traveled up to Jonesboro and had a complete meltdown, losing to Arkansas State 10-5. The Rebels just continue to struggle with pitching depth. They put six pitchers on the mound not named Wahl, Mayer or Hively and got absolutely hammered, giving up 14 hits to a Sunbelt team with 21 losses. It's frustrating to see the good work the Rebels did sweeping Tennessee get tarnished with a garbage performance like that. The loss solidifies Ole Miss as a No. 2 seed. Maybe they can still overcome it with a big weekend against Vanderbilt and a strong SEC Tournament performance, but a long win-streak to end the season would have been better. 

RPI: Ole Miss is sitting at No. 20 at Boyd's World this a.m.

WOMMACK SPEAKS: Ole Miss defensive coordinator Dave Wommack spoke at the West Tennessee Rebel Club in Jackson, Tennessee, last night and said the usual stuff you expect to hear at such places.  

REVENUE: Ole Miss senior executive associate athletic director (say that really fast 10 times) John Hartwell fleshed out the USA Today athletic department revenue report with the Clarion Ledger's Hugh Kellenberger, saying UMAA Foundation contributions not reported to the NCAA do make the Ole Miss athletic department self-sufficient. I don't get as worked up over the numbers in the athletic department as some might. There's nothing new here. The Rebels are toward the bottom on the SEC in revenue. Look at the football stadium. That should tell you the entire story in a nutshell. Only Vanderbilt and Mississippi State have smaller football stadiums. Football's where the money is made. Ole Miss has a smaller stadium by SEC standards and has had two years of crappy football. It should be no surprise to anyone that revenue is on the low end of the SEC. Yawn. If you're interested, here's the USA TODAY CHART showing Ole Miss with $49,180,892 in Total Revenue, $47,109,301 in Total Expenses and a subsidy of $3,660,915. Hartwell said that revenue figure is not a reflection of the total money available from the UMAA Foundation. So there you go. By comparison Florida, Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee all have more than $100 million in Total Revenue. To use a Major League Baseball comparison, Ole Miss is the Kansas City Royals and those guys are the New York Yankees. When was the last time the Royals were in the World Series? 

NICE CATCH: Hugh Freeze caught another big fish yesterday. That's at least the third one in a few weeks. Is he trying to rub it in?  

JAKE'S TAKE: Barrett Sallee from BleacherReport.com was on the show today to talk some SEC football and his expectations for Ole Miss in 2012. Be sure to give it a listen. It's available OnDemand on the Rebel Sports Radio app for iPhone and Android.  

E FOR EFFORT: ESPN's Edward Ashoff writes about the journey Ole Miss is on with Hugh Freeze. It's a testament to where Ole Miss has been that effort is such a big selling point for next season.  

NEW POST SPRING FOOTBALL ROSTER IS OUT: You can find it here. There's not much in the way of surprises, but it did come out just in time to help me finish up my fall preview for Mississippi Sports Magazine, so thanks Ole Miss sports information department. 

STADIUM RANKINGS: Some guy at BleacherReport.com took the time to rank 124 college football stadiums. You'll be glad to learn Ole Miss made a Top 25 in something other than baseball and tennis this year.  

NBA DRAFT: Terrance Henry is getting ready for the NBA draft. The Ole Miss Spirit's Ben Garrett caught up with him to see how it's going. Reading about Henry makes me wonder: Who was the best Ole Miss NBA player? I really don't have the foggiest on that one. Maybe the potential is still there for Terrico White?

One of the things I like most about Hugh Freeze, currently 0-0 as head coach of Ole Miss, is that he seems to be having a lot of fun in his new gig. Some head coaches act so dang serious you wouldn't know if they actually have a life away from their cell phone or outside their office door. In most cases it's just a front they feel they need to project to make it appear as though they're worth that $2.5 million salary they're getting. Not Freeze. He's more of a "What you see is what you get," kind of guy, and right now, he's having a good time with this SEC head coaching thing. A head coach who posts fish pictures on Twitter, plays in golf tournaments and provides me with a nice inspirational morning tweet every day is just kind of fun. Nice catch, Coach.

 

You heard about Whitehaven running back Mark Dodson committing to the Rebels yesterday. ESPN's recruiting blog has some nuts and bolts analysis of the talented back. There's another player at Whitehaven still hunting an Ole Miss offer. Offensive lineman Vincent Hunter tells the Commercial Appeal he's hoping to perform well enough at camp this summer to get an offer from the Rebels. The 6-4, 285-pound Hunter already has offers from Mississippi State, Arkansas and Memphis. 

SPRING PRACTICE WRAP-UP: There's a spring practice wrap over on ESPN's SEC Blog. It's just a primer. If you're looking for something with more meat keep an eye out for the latest edition of Mississippi Sports Magazine, where I have a huge spring report available for your consumption.  

ON HOSTING A REGIONAL: Parrish Alford and Boyd Nation give some insight into how the NCAA hopes are shaping up for Ole Miss baseball. Nation says the Rebels are looking like a two seed. That is the safe bet, but Ole Miss could still conceivably play it's way into a hosting position with a series win against Vanderbilt and a good showing in Hoover. That's my take. Ole Miss certainly doesn't need a slip-up at Arkansas State tonight.  

RECRUITING RANKINGS: I'm aware this means absolutely nothing until commits are inked next February, but according to 247Sports, the 2013 Ole Miss class is currently ranked 15th. By comparison, Mississippi State's is ranked 59th.

MORE REGIONAL PROJECTIONS: Perfect Game's Kendall Rogers has Ole Miss as a No. 2 in Raleigh. It looks more and more like the Rebels need to do something spectacular in Birmingham next week IN ADDITION to winning that series at Vandy this weekend if they want to grasp a 1 seed.  

Ole Miss played it's most exciting baseball of the season over the weekend, including a 1-2 punch of Bobby Wahl and R.J. Hively on Friday, a dramatic comeback and exta-innings walk off home run on Saturday and a Hively encore Sunday. The three wins catapulted Ole Miss into 5th place in the SEC with a 14-13 record and one final SEC series to play before Hoover. Ole Miss is far from a lock to host a regional, but if they can stay on a tear and have a good showing in Birmingham, well, you never know.

First though, what a game on Saturday! Games like that are the reason you go to the ball park. Down 4-2 in the 9th, most Ole Miss fans had just about given up hope. Then freshman Sikes Orvis steps up to the plate and ties it with a two-run shot - the first home run of his college career and the game goes to extra innings. In the 11th inning senior Matt Snyder hits a three-run home run for the 7-4 win on Senior Day. It was pinch-me type stuff. The homer was Snyder's 12th of the season, but perhaps his most important. Up until the 9th inning it looked like the Rebels were about to lose in disappointing fashion. A loss would have just about done in any chance the Rebels had of hosting a regional. With the sweep Ole Miss can still make a run at it. 

That was a great weekend of baseball. Hopefully, not the last one in Oxford this season, but we'll just have to wait and find out.

The sweep knocked the Vols squarely out of the SEC Tournament picture, and the guys over at Red Cup Rebellion found some good linkage describing Tennessee's resulting agony. 

RANKINGS: Ole Miss is now ranked No. 22 at Perfect Game. No. 25 in Baseball America. 

SEC DOMINATION: Here's a look at SEC baseball's dominance. Looks a lot like football. Kentucky was the basketball tournament this year, too. It's the SEC's world, and I'm just glad to live in it. 

ANOTHER COMMITMENT: Ole Miss recieved a commitment from Whitehaven running back Mark Dodson today.  Here are his junior highlights:

BLEACHER REPORT: Barrett Sallee is counting down the top 150 players in the SEC and he has Nick Brassell at No. 108. It includes a nice highlight clip of Brassell's near touchdown catch against Alabama - the only positive play the Rebels had in that game. 

MAKING A ROSTER: Former defensive end Wayne Dorsey made his way into SI's Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column. Dorsey made it through Oakland Raider's tryouts. It's a good read and features a nice Ole Miss red uniform pic. Click here and croll down. Judging by the production Ole Miss got out of Dorsey the last couple years it's hard to imagine him having an NFL career, but it would be a completely Ole Miss thing to happen for him to go make a name for himself in the pro's after two years of underperfoming for the Rebels. 

REBEL SPORTS RADIO: Ken was back from sabbatical to talk baseball and a good bit of expectations for football on the show today. Check out Jake's Take on Rebel Sports Radio.  

CAN'T WAIT: Seeing this opening opening weekend slate over on ESPN's SEC Blog is making me salivate for college football season. Alabama/Michigan and Auburn/Clemson in the first weekend of September is rich. 

ONLY THING HE KNEW HOW TO DO WAS WIN: A summertime letter to an incoming freshman sheds some light on Bear Bryant's winning ways. 

ANOTHER OLE MISS MARKETING VIDEO

Like Jake's OMB on Facebook

Follow Jake's OMB on Twitter

Listen to Jake's radio show