ESPN’s latest bracketology release has Ole Miss as a 9 seed against Florida State in the Midwest Regional. LINK

Chris Low rates the impact football newcomers in the SEC next year with a mention of Ole Miss signee Wayne Dorsey. LINK

This was making the web rounds before the game. Wishing no ill will to Peyton, I did find it humorous.

slideshow

Update 2:46 p.m.

Here’s an interesting link from Drew Brees, saying he exchanged text messages with Peyton Manning late Sunday night. Manning had been criticized for quickly leaving the field after the game.

Updated 10:10 a.m.

I thought the best part of the Super Bowl, for Saints fans, would be the two weeks leading up to it. Wrong again. This will be the best Monday since … well, the NFC championship game.

Friends at the Super Bowl party yesterday said, “PA, it’s great to see you show emotion at a football game.”

I figure that was OK since the Saints had brought me so many emotional lows through the years.

Your strongest memories about your hometown or region come from the way things were when you left. When I left home and went on to college and beyond, I became focused on other things, still cheering for the Saints, but going to games far less often.

I know the program has advanced far past the days of the Aints and paper bags on heads, but I wasn’t sold that it was a Super Bowl champ this time around.

I thought Peyton would pick the Saints a part. He did when he had the ball. I thought the turnovers the Saints thrived on all season would be far fewer. They were, but they turned the only turnover they got into something really big.

I did think that they would matchup better against the Colts’ defense than the Vikings’ defense, and ultimately that won the game for them … just keeping Peyton off the field.

Great win for a franchise that was a joke for so many years.

It’s good to see good people be successful, and Drew Brees is good people. He was the afterthrought, the third guy who was affected by Eli’s decision not to play for the Chargers. That decision sent Phillip Rivers to San Diego and Brees to free agency. Now two of those three have been Super Bowl MVPs.

More good news. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, only three were shot, and they did not have life-threatening injuries, in the celebration in the French Quarter.

A few images here. This was the scene of our Super Bowl party at Basketballrebel’s house. LINK

The Super Bowl MVP, who is only 6-1 by the way, and his ETrade advisor.

I’ll try to refocus later today, but there’s a real temptation to call in sick. …

Back on the beat, the Reggie Buckner Watch is still going strong at Ole Miss. Andy Kennedy hopes to have him back for Thursday’s game at Mississippi State. Any post play, defense or offense, would be a lift against the Bulldogs.

Ole Miss struggled against Jarvis Varnado and that bunch in an 80-73 loss in Oxford in the first round. …

The (Lady) Rebels picked up a big win yesterday, 102-101 in Triple OT, over LSU in Baton Rouge. With the Saints playing in the Super Bowl, I wonder what attendance was for that game. …

Kennedy will talk on the SEC teleconference later this morning, and we’ll talk to players at Ole Miss later today.

The SEC has released its amped up TV schedule for baseball, a product of the ESPN contract. I suppose this is progress, but I have a hard time gearing up for starting times at 8 o’clock on a Friday and 7 o’clock on a Saturday.

LINK

Freshman forward Reggie Buckner

slideshow

Update 1:10 p.m. Rebels fall from polls

The Rebels’ only game this week is a Thursday night trip to Mississippi State. Ole Miss had trouble getting anything done in the post against Jarvis Varnado in an 80-73 loss in the first round.

Getting Reggie Buckner back would be a big lift. Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy is hopeful that Buckner, who has missed the last three games with a sprained ankle, will play, but that remains to be seen. He hasn’t practiced since leaving the Auburn game with 8:31 left to play on Jan. 28.

Buckner was playing quite well at the time, really having taken steps on offense. He picked up the defensive end of things much quicker.

So what do you think you’ll get from a freshman who was just hitting his stride and has to miss three games?

“That’s a good question, I don’t know,” Kennedy said. “He’s still not been able to practice, and we’ll see how it goes today. He’s a big, strong guy, and his recuperative powers are better than yours and mine, but until I see how he plays, I have no measure of comparison. He had always been a defensive presence but has grown on offense by leaps and bounds. He was playing 20 minutes a game and being very productive in those 20 minutes.”

Post defense without Buckner was exploited by Arkansas bigs Mike Washington and Marshawn Powell. Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins had 18 points and 13 rebounds two days later. The Rebels were better down low against Alabama.

Kennedy doesn’t think the mere presence of Buckner will provide a notable emotional lift. The Rebels need his production.

“When he comes back I don’t know if he can go out and be 100 percent or if he’ll be tentative and worried. I don’t know what his pain tolerance will be.”