Ole Miss’ 2016 football team is expected to be pretty darn good. Despite an NCAA investigation and the Laremy Tunsil draft nightmare, the Rebels are ranked No. 10 in Athlon’s preseason rankings and face the top two teams in Alabama and Florida State in the first month of the season.

There is national buzz around the Rebels. Ole Miss knows who it is, a program on the rise, but not quite there yet. The Rebels are still looking for their first appearance in Atlanta for an SEC title game.

Ole Miss is a nationally recognized brand. The Rebels are the Rebels, sort of.

When the baseball team made it to Omaha in 2014, a store outside TD Ameritrade Park garnered attention when fans noticed Colonel Rebel patches available to buy. The issue? The Colonel was removed as Ole Miss’ mascot in 2003.

Sort of.

As coordinated as Ole Miss is for game days – a calendar of which color sundress to wear for which game has already circled social media – fans are still facing an identity crisis in Oxford. The mascot circus that started when the university removed the controversial Colonel in 2003 has never gone away.

Every other school in America has one mascot. Ole Miss has settled on three.

Here are three arguments for and three arguments against Colonel Rebel, the Landshark and Rebel Black Bear.

 COLONEL REBEL

KEEP: The university sort of did. It removed him from on-field activity but retained the trademark. And the Colonel Reb Foundation keeps him going and sponsors his appearance in The Grove, as well as on the road. He was in Omaha. The strange part of removing Colonel Rebel was that the crowd that wanted him gone was and is still hard to identify. It seemed more of an in-house preventative than a cry for his removal. Colonel Rebel is a beloved historical figure, sort of like Colonel Sanders. Nobody is fussing about Sanders hawking his chicken all over the television.

REMOVE: If something offends a great number of people, there is a solid argument that it should be done away with. There is also a good argument that people are way too offended by things that aren’t offensive. In this case, removing Reb seems to have been a win-win. Officially, he’s gone. Unofficially, he never will be.

LANDSHARK

KEEP: Late linebacker Tony Fein came up with the Landshark fin to the helmet in 2008 when Ole Miss’ fourth-ranked rushing defense led the Rebels to a Cotton Bowl win. It’s fun. It’s harmless. It’s unique. Some are puzzled as to why it can’t be the official mascot. The marketing potential is limitless.

REMOVE: It has nothing to do with the Rebels’ nickname. Then again, neither does the elephant in Tuscaloosa.

REBEL BLACK BEAR

KEEP: Mississippi State fans get plenty of snark mileage making fun of the Rebel Black Bear. It’s pretty warranted when you consider the nickname change came about for really no reason, and the Black Bear is pretty random. But the kids love it, and that’s what sports is about. As long as Rebel roams the sidelines, he will become more popular with young fans. That is plenty of reason to keep him around. No one makes fun of Toys “R” Us’ Geoffrey or Chuck E. Cheese.

REMOVE: There are an estimated 40-50 bears in the entire state. If the mascot needs to be literal, there are way more crappie and bass.

ADMIRAL ACKBAR

KEEP: Don’t forget about Ackbar. The Star Wars character got a major push when Ole Miss was asking students their thoughts on the new mascot. It was a joke, sort of. It got so serious, Lucasfilm weighed in.

“Lucasfilm is flattered that our “Star Wars” fans at the University of Mississippi are considering electing Admiral Ackbar as their mascot. The last time we checked in with Admiral Ackbar, he was leading the Rebel Alliance Fleet on a critical mission so it will be difficult for him to show up for the games!”

REMOVE: Who could be against the Ole Miss Admiral Ackbars?