Next week’s game against Texas A&M will determine whether Ole Miss indeed is embodying Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin'” for a second consecutive season.
After ranking at No. 3 in the country just three weeks ago, the Rebels (5-2) nearly fell out of the Top 25 completely in the Associated Press and Coaches Poll on Sunday. That’s after a loss to American Athletic Conference opponent Memphis this weekend.
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Ole Miss fell to No. 23 in the Coaches Poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday.
Those Memphis Tigers now are ranked themselves, and are a respectable team. But the Ole Miss offensive line is in shambles (again) and the defense is missing several key players due to injury. So despite being quite alive and well in the SEC West title chase, Ole Miss barely is one of the 25 best teams in the country, according to voters in the two major polls.
A road win against top 10 team Alabama still looks good on the Rebels’ resume. But whatever fledgling hopes the team had for winning a national championship in what could be the final college season for the vaunted members of the 2013 signing class vanished on Saturday.
The team still faces five of its six scheduled games against SEC West opponents, with a Nov. 14 bye week. Coach Hugh Freeze needs to lead his team to a 4-1 record to close the season in order to match last year’s regular-season win total.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
