The national media has focused on teams in the Southeastern Conference such as Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and LSU much of the 2003 season.
They seem to be forgetting the team with the best conference record – Ole Miss.
The Rebels remained the SEC’s only undefeated team on Saturday with a 24-20 win at Auburn. Ole Miss stands atop the SEC Western Division with a 6-0 conference record. It’s the Rebels best start since 1962, when Johnny Vaught was the head coach and Ole Miss won the SEC and the National Championships.
Fans here in Baton Rouge complain that LSU does not get enough respect at No. 7 in the BCS. But Ole Miss gets no respect with a 8-2 record and only ranked at No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today poll, No. 17 by the Associated Press, and No. 23 in the BCS.
The Rebels have flown under the radar the whole season. After opening the season with a 24-21 squeaker against lowly Vanderbilt, many people including myself thought this was the same mediocre 7-4, 4-4 SEC Ole Miss team. Losing to teams like Texas Tech and Memphis earlier in the season didn’t help either.
The Rebels didn’t get any respect when they went into the Swamp and handed Florida a 20-17 loss. But this week’s win against Auburn got everyone’s attention.
The significance of Saturday’s Rebels win makes the SEC West race simple. Ole Miss and LSU are the only teams with a realistic chance to represent the SEC West in Atlanta.
Ole Miss has only two games remaining on its schedule so this puts most of the pressure on LSU.
The Rebels end their schedule against No. 3 LSU and at Mississippi State. The Tigers three remaining contests are at Alabama, at No. 19 Ole Miss and Arkansas.
This makes it imperative for the Tigers to win their final three games. LSU could still win the SEC West if they lose one of those games, but with Mississippi State playing so poorly it’s hard to imagine that the Rebels will lose more than one conference game.
For LSU, as the old saying goes, “the next game is the most important game.” The Tigers cannot lay another egg coming off a bye week – remember the Tigers’ 19-7 loss to Florida after their first bye week. Tigers coach Nick Saban admitted after the game that he couldn’t get his players revved up for the unranked 3-3 Gators.
A similar obstacle presents itself this week when LSU plays Alabama. The Crimson Tide (4-6, 2-4 SEC) might not look like much of a threat but the Tide cannot be taken lightly. They gave top-ranked Oklahoma a fight, losing 20-13.
At the other end of the schedule, Arkansas showed flashes of brilliance with a win against Texas earlier in the season and was ranked in the Top 10 for a few weeks. The Razorbacks have won their last two games against Kentucky and South Carolina, and with athletic quarterback Matt Jones at the helm Arkansas is dangerous.
The most important game comes at Ole Miss on Nov. 22. If Ole Miss wins, it goes to the SEC championship game for the first time in the championship game’s existance.
The Tigers control their own destiny, but if they drop the ball just once chances are Atlanta will be hearing the chants “Hotty, Toddy” instead of “Geaux Tigers.”