Hotty Toddy Headlines – 5/1/14

Nov 28, 2013; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Hugh Freeze during the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports
We now hate midweek games, period. Coach Freeze feels confident that the north endzone will be closed in soon.

Welcome to the month of May Rebel Nation! Hopefully we will be seeing a great month ahead of us, filled with sunshine and hosting a regional seed in baseball. To start your Thursday morning news on a downside, we hate to report that the Rebels lost to Southern Miss in the midweek game last night at Swayze. Southern Miss improves to 27-19 overall with a season series sweep over the Rebels, and have won four straight now in the overall series.

The Rebels could not hold on to a opening 4-0 lead after three innings. Not even the entire pitching staff could close out a win, as Ole Miss falls to 33-13 in the overall standings. The team has also not done well in midweek games this season. With the loss to Southern Miss Wednesday night, the Rebels fall to 1-5 in midweek games this season against rivalry teams.

The team will now prepare themselves to host Arkansas starting Friday in a three-game weekend series. Thankfully, there is no midweek contest next week; then the team will host Georgia in the Rebels’ final home games of the regular season. First pitch for the Friday game against Arkansas is as usual scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. We will be posting an upcoming preview article of the series.

Ole Miss Football

Apparently, Hugh Freeze was in favor of the 6-0-2 format for future SEC football scheduling. What we got was a 6-1-1 format, and that does not leave any dissatisfaction for Coach Freeze and Athletic Director Ross Bjork. A 6-1-1 format will keep the Ole Miss – Vanderbilt rivalry continuing on a yearly basis. Bjork told the Clarion-Ledger last week that Ole Miss was fine with that rivalry continuing, but would not have been upset if it ended either. There were benefits to ending the rivalry, in the aspects of evening the playing field with some opponents like LSU and Florida.

Hugh Freeze had this to say on the topic to the Clarion Ledger:

"I thought the fairest case would be the 6-0-2. What we’ve done at eight games is put our teams, more than one usually, in the hunt for a national championship berth."

Starting in 2016, Ole Miss will have to schedule at least one opponent from one of the other powerhouse conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and PAC 12). For the first season, we’ve learned the Rebels do not have an opponent yet, but Bjork’s staff has already had discussions about the topic.

In other interesting news in regards to Rebel football, Coach Hugh Freeze told Parrish Alford of the Daily Journal that he feels confident in fund-raising for renovations of the north endzone. This fund-raising is to expand seating in the north endzone of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium and would create a full bowl creation of the stadium. This is something Rebel fans have been dying to happen for a long time now. Ross Bjork is planning to see construction starting at the end of the 2015 season.

Community News

There are citizens of our local communities that need everyone’s help from the damages from Sunday/Monday’s devastating storms. The university is asking for your help:

Around the SEC

What’s Wrong with the Baseball Team? – Maroon And White Nation
The Mississippi State Bulldogs lost to Jacksonville State last night in their midweek game. Apparently, they are struggling to find rhythm in their midweek games too. But, I love this title – What’s Wrong with the Baseball Team?. It is a statement that everything MSU fans had hoped for in their world of sports has come crumbling down. I love it!

Football Recruiting: 2015 Speedster Jalen Julius Picks Florida Gators – Hail Florida Hail
Muschamp is licking his chops over this one.

Vols Football: DB JaRon Toney Leaving Tennessee – All For Tennessee

ESPNU SEC Storied to Document Alabama Gymnastics Coach Sarah Patterson – Bama Hammer

Around the FanSided Network

Jameis Winston Cited for Shoplifting Crab Legs, Suspended From Baseball Team – Chop Chat
ICYMI, yesterday Jameis Winston made headlines news for stealing crab legs at a local Publix in Florida. Florida State University athletic department chose to suspend Winston from baseball for his actions. The Twitter feeds of humor of the topic was endless. Just search: crab legs.

Penn State Football Morning Briefing: James Franklin Responds to Allegations, Sean Spencer Profiled and Other News – Victory Bell Rings
Penn State head coach James Franklin hasn’t even completed his first down in his new era of Penn State football, and face allegations on a crime that happened at Vanderbilt. Penn State does not need more cover ups from coaches.