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Ole Miss Softball: No.19 Rebels Get MSU In Opening Round Of SEC Tourney

ByDaniel Skipper|
Aug 6, 2016; Irvine, CA, USA; Beverly Bandits players celebrate after defeating the South Dakota Renegades to with the 16U Premier Championship at the Girls Premier Fastpitch Nationals at Bill Barber Community Park. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 6, 2016; Irvine, CA, USA; Beverly Bandits players celebrate after defeating the South Dakota Renegades to with the 16U Premier Championship at the Girls Premier Fastpitch Nationals at Bill Barber Community Park. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Ole Miss softball is peaking at just the right time and have to play well in the SEC tourney in order to improve their seeding for the NCAA tourney. After winning 5 of their last 7 games. it’s easy to see why they are ranked in the top 20 and sitting in pretty good shape to make a deep run.

Although Ole Miss softball has found itself flirting at the No.20 in the nation mark, they have our attention as a gritty team. The Rebels (36-18, 10-14) are a softball team ready to make a big run and they have the ability to make it happen. After the series sweep by the No.1 Gators, these Rebels bounced back to take the series against No.13 Bama and Mizzou.

Now, it’s time for the SEC tourney to begin in Knoxville and the No.8 seed Ole Miss softball team will face No.9 seed Mississippi State. Although the Rebels didn’t face the Bulldogs in regular SEC play, they did meet in a midweek match-up. The Rebels shutout the Bulldogs by a score of 2-0. According to OleMissSports.com, Wednesday’s match-up is the first ever tournament meeting between the two rival schools.

What Bulldogs Bring

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It is certainly no surprise the Bulldogs would be seeded at No.9 in the tourney. They had the same final conference record as the Rebels at the end of regular season.

Remember the midweek the Rebels won back in March? That was the deciding tie-breaker for the No.8 spot.

Overall the Mississippi State Bulldogs come into the tourney with virtually the same record as the Rebels, however they have one more loss.

If you only consider the numbers, it’s really difficult to find 2 more evenly matched teams in the tourney. Of course, the Rebels have the only real number which matters.

Neutral Hype

I love stats and the one which matters most right now is 10-2. This is neutral site record of the Ole Miss softball team. Ole Miss has the look of a team built for the momentum of tournament ball, and this is always the record indicative of a tourney team.

Of course, everybody would consider the home team Volunteers to be the tourney favorite, however there are a number of teams which have a legitimate shot at deep runs in the tourney. Ole Miss is squarely among those who believe they have a chance. However, the winner of the OM/State contest gets No.1 Florida in the next round.

New Rankings Out

The new rankings are out and the Rebels are ranked at No.19 in the nation. Folks, I’m telling y’all right now, this team has a run in them. However, whether it’s now or in the NCAA tourney remains to be seen.

Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long to see the Ole MIss softball team in action. First pitch for the first post-season meeting ever between Ole Miss and MSU is set for 2:30pm CT and will be televised on the SEC Network.

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