Ole Miss has beaten Alabama in back-to-back seasons, participated in consecutive New Year’s Six bowl games and just signed its second top 10 recruiting class in four years.

But the Rebels haven’t been able to win an SEC West title or play in the first SEC Championship game in school history.

In 2015, Arkansas converted a fourth-and-25 in overtime and then won on a two-point conversion in what became one of the defining moments of the SEC season. That’s how close Ole Miss (10-3, 6-2 SEC) came to tying Alabama and representing the division in Atlanta based on the head-to-head result.

Hugh Freeze thinks he’s identified the difference between his program and the Tide, which made College Football Playoff appearances in 2014 and 2015.

“We’ve proven we can beat anyone on a given day. We have not proven we have the ability to be consistent through the 12-game grind,” Freeze said on ESPN’s “Championship Drive” podcast. “Ultimately you’re going to play a game after a disappointing loss, or you’re going to be short five starters due to injury or issues that you may have that just are part of this journey together.

“To be very candid, the teams like Alabama and maybe a few others … when they are without five players, you do not notice a drop-off in that 12-game schedule. They’ve found a way to be consistent. We have been very, very good at times … but the consistency we have not found.”

Freeze discussed that among other topics with Ivan Maisel, Chris Low & Heather Dinich. The coaches and players must take their commitment to detail to another level to catch Alabama during the course of a 12-game schedule, he conceded. But Freeze said the biggest difference in his team and that of Nick Saban’s is depth, something he feels like he’s solved now that he’s put together four consecutive recruiting classes that are well-regarded.

Interestingly, the ESPN crew did not ask him a single question about the current NCAA inquiry, which includes an alleged 13 violations from the football program. That was a big elephant in the room, so to speak, in what otherwise was an excellent interview.

A few other interesting points:

  • Freeze sounds mighty confident in five-star offensive tackle Gregory Little. The Rebels coach compared him to Laremy Tunsil and sounds convinced that Little will start at left tackle as a true freshman. Little needs to add upper body strength, according to Freeze, but possesses excellent footwork, quickness and change of direction.
  • Freeze believes the team has one personnel weakness despite the addition of the touted 2016 recruiting class. “We’re battling with the elite teams in the country for players. You’re going to lose some of those battles. Sometimes you can find yourself maybe a little lacking in one area. I think that area for us is defensive line this year, so we’ve got to put a huge focus on that for the ’17 class,” he said.
  • The Rebels coach explained how he worked relationships to secure the breakthrough class of 2013, including Denzel Nkemdiche — Robert Nkemdiche’s brother and a member of the 2012 class — as well as an older high school teammate of Laquon Treadwell, which Freeze admitted he signed in ’12 specifically to build a relationship with the receiver, then a five-star recruit.
  • Freeze identified three main catalysts that serve as the main thrust of his current recruiting success. First, that ’13 class. Second, the Rebels’ increasingly-impressive on-field success. Third? How about The Grove, and the beautiful campus in Oxford?

“The only thing I believe strongly that we needed to be an elite school in the recruiting realm is to get kids to come to campus unofficially,” Freeze said. “Signing that class, then winning on the field, has made it possible … to get kids and families to our campus in the springtime or summertime going into their senior year. Once we get a kid here, I believe everybody kind of sees, ‘Oh, I’ve got it now.’ My motto in recruiting is ‘come and see.’ Most families leave here with probably a different impression than they thought they would.”