June 14, 2007

Had Ole Miss not wilted in the desert, what a week we would be looking forward to.

Imagine for a second that of eight teams in the College World Series, two are from one of the smallest states in America.

Florida has none and Texas, only one team playing in the CWS. California has two teams, but also 12 times as many people as Mississippi.

Mississippi State did its part, knocking out Clemson in two straight games in the Super Regional in Starkville. The Bulldogs’ presence is Omaha, at least three weeks ago, seemed like a dream.

Ole Miss, on the other hand, easily won its regional in Oxford before falling to Arizona State in the Super Regionals.

It’s the third straight year the Rebels have gone to a Super Regional only to come home shy of Omaha. The e-mail I received (from an MSU supporter I assume) said it best: What does Omaha stand for? Ole Miss At Home Again.

Each year, it seems, the Rebels are one of the country’s best teams, until the Super Regionals. They are good enough every year to make a run deep into the Southeastern Conference Tournament and earn Regional and Super Regional bids, but when it’s time to make that next step, the Rebels seem to fall flat.

Some say the reason they lost the previous two was that the pressure of playing at home in front of a mammoth crowd became too much. In each series, Ole Miss won the first game over Texas and Miami, respectively, before falling twice in a row to watch another team celebrate on the Rebels’ home field.

This year, they were shipped west, away from the pressure of the home crowds and lofty expectations, only to go two and barbecue (an old sports adage about a quick exit from a double-elimination tournament).

More crushing for the Rebels is to see their fiercest rivals in Omaha battling for a national championship. Mississippi State is peaking at the right time. The team is healthy, the pitching is holding up and the offense is on fire.

To win a national championship, the Bulldogs certainly will have to earn it. They get matched up with North Carolina, a finalist last year, in the first round. They then get either Louisville, which is swinging the bats as well as any team in the country right now, or perennial power Rice.

If the Bullies play Louisville, it will be an extra slap in the face to the rival Rebels. Dan McDonnell, Ole Miss’ top recruiter for six years, is coaching Louisville. He is the first first-year coach ever to lead his team to Omaha.

Mississippi State is scheduled to play Friday night at 6, and fans in this baseball-crazy state will be watching intently.

Imagine if both schools were playing in Omaha? Imagine the fever, the excitement of it all?

One is good, two would be unreal.

If only we could find a place for the Rebels to play their Super Regionals.