A year ago, Ole Miss beat Alabama, 23-17, to hand the Crimson Tide its only regular-season loss. Well, it’s time for the rematch, and here is what a few outlets are saying about the biggest SEC matchup — with all due respect to Auburn-LSU — of the week, Saturday night’s contest between the Rebels and Bama in Tuscaloosa:

  1. Nick Saban is getting trolled relentlessly in advance of Alabama-Ole Miss. Who knew that the Alabama coach shopped at Baby Gap? At least one business in Oxford, Miss., seems to think he does:
  2. Chad Kelly and the Alabama defensive line will be key in Saturday night’s showdown. So says ESPN.com, whose Football Percentage Index gives Ole Miss a 55.4 percent chance of beating the Crimson Tide.
  3. C.J. Johnson sees room for improvement on Mississippi’s defense. Even though Ole Miss goes into Saturday with the second-best scoring defense (12.0) in the SEC, the Rebels are only fifth in the conference in total defense, having allowed an average of 303 yards in blowout wins over Tennessee-Martin and Fresno State. Most of those yards were surrendered in garbage time, but Johnson believes the Rebels can be better on ‘D.’
  4. The status of Laremy Tunsil won’t affect Alabama’s preparation. So says tuscaloosanews.com regarding the Ole Miss offensive lineman, who has missed the first two games of the season and will probably miss Saturday night’s matchup as the investigation into whether he received improper benefits from agents continues.
  5. Saban likes the personality of his team going into Saturday night’s game. Wow. Saban saying something positive about his team is definitely unusual, but it indicates that this week’s matchup might be something special.