ESPN Analytics has crunched the numbers on Saturday night’s SEC showdown between Ole Miss and No. 18 Vanderbilt, and it all seems pointed to a possible dominant night for the home team from Nashville.
Vanderbilt has seemingly righted the ship in the past week, with a 3-game losing streak that followed a 16-0 start being answered by 2 straight victories. The Commodores blew out Mississippi State on the road last Saturday, then came home on Tuesday night and made a big statement in crushing Kentucky at Memorial Gym.
Those 2 wins got Vandy to 18-3 overall and 5-3 in the SEC, and the suddenly resurgent Commodores will be right back at Memorial Gym on Saturday night to welcome struggling Ole Miss (11-9, 3-4 SEC). The Rebels recently had it rolling with 3 straight SEC wins, but now they’re going the other way, with losses to Auburn and Kentucky.
The 1 thing Ole Miss does have going for it on Saturday night is that it had the week off after that loss at Rupp Arena last Saturday. So, it should at least be refreshed as it gets ready for a massive challenge in trying to pull the upset at one of the toughest places to win in the SEC — or even the country.
But ESPN’s BPI isn’t buying the whole week off thing. Instead, it’s looking at a Vandy team that’s rolling again and giving the Commodores an 86.3% chance to keep that roll going against the Rebels.
The matchup will tip off at 6 p.m. ET on SEC Network between teams seemingly going in opposite directions. We’ll find out if both trends continue on Saturday night in Nashville.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
