So, here's where we are.

The SEC regular season is complete. Has there been improvement from 2011?

The answer is yes but to what degree remains to be seen. The Rebels are one game better in league play (14-16) than they were a year ago (13-17) when they missed out on the SEC and NCAA tournaments.

The goal from the beginning had to be to get back to postseason, to begin a new streak after an eight-year run in both tournaments ended last season. Getting into postseason is the first step of reaching the real goal, Omaha.

While Omaha is always a stated goal of the program, this isn't the team to get there regardless of what happens this week in Hoover and next Monday when NCAA bids are announced. But getting into postseason has to be the first goal, getting the opportunity to play as long as you can and one day make the CWS field.

There's a general belief that Ole Miss, with 14 regular season wins in the No. 2 rated RPI conference and an RPI currently of 23 as its own, has done enough to get into the NCAA tournament.

But rarely have I seen an emotional turnaround such as the Rebels have achieved in seven days, going from a sweep of an SEC opponent, albeit a bad one, to a loss at Arkansas State and scoring just five runs in three games at Vanderbilt. I understand that Tim Corbin has recruited good pitching and that Vanderbilt is peaking. That's fine. You're still, if you're going to be a team can realistically pursue the goals Ole Miss pursues, going to have to compete against quality pitching.

The hitting is much improved from last season, the scoring is not. So many times - including yesterday in a 6-3 loss - the Rebels put up enough hits to win the game but not enough runs, not enough pressure on the opposing defense in which this offense was described at the beginning of the season. This Ole Miss team was noticeably better in laying down a bunt and advancing a runner with a sacrifice, and finished second against SEC foes in batting average at .285. But a team that struck out less than any other SEC team, and one with more speed to work with than last year, finished sixth in on-base percentage, 10th in runs, 11th in stolen bases and last in stolen base attempts.

The hitting is better, but something is missing. Something else has to happen to get the Rebels around the bases and to home plate. Thursday and Friday it was like they sent recon agents out to second base only to go back to the dugout and file a report. Rarely did those runners get around to third base and home. Ole Miss left 34 runners on base for three games, almost 12 a game.

Trends that go on for a season are rarely dramatically different in postseason, so if the Rebels are going to have any more success in Hoover, they're going to have to pitch it better. They're going to have to have outstanding starting pitching and relief pitching in the same game, and they're going to have to score enough for it to matter.

At this point in assessing postseason goals, Ole Miss is back in the SEC tournament but barely. Had the field not expanded to 10 teams, the No. 9-seeded Rebels would not be there.

The RPI is strong, but an RPI in the 20s wasn't enough to get LSU in the field last year when the Tigers had 13 regular season wins and did not make the SEC tournament.

It will be interesting to see if making it to Hoover works for or against Ole Miss. LSU did not have the chance to improve its resume beyond the regular seaosn last year. Ole Miss does.

While certain components remain significant to earn an NCAA at-large bid, there's still a human element to every selection committee. If the Rebels, who open with Kentucky Tuesday morning at 9:30, go 0-2 in Hoover it will be interesting to see if 14 regular season wins really are enough to keep playing.

Update 7:17 a.m.

About to get on the road from Brentwood. I will not about around for Game 3 as the Rebels go for their first win in the series.

Due to some technical difficulties last night, this video did not get posted, but here are a couple of Ole Miss players talking about Friday's loss.

Mike Mayers

Sikes Orvis

FINAL: Vanderbilt 6, Ole Miss 2

Offensive woes continue, and the Rebels will turn to R.J. Hively to try and avoid the sweep Saturday.

Pitching was not the problem. Mike Mayers threw six scoreless, scattering three hits, before leaving the game after giving up a leadoff single in the seventh. He gave a winning effort.

The Rebels got Tanner Mathis to third base in the first but didn't get him home. They didn't get to third base again until the eighth inning when Sikes Orvis delivered a pinch-hit RBI double.

I lost count on the runners in scoring position stat when I didn't take my book down to the field, but at the time the Rebels were 1-for-7 in that category.

Lots of opportunities, as the Rebels stranded 12. Mathis, Andrew Mistone, Orvis and Blake Newalu had doubles.

Vanderbilt again put pressure on the Rebels on the bases with three steals. Two errors contributed to Vandy's four-run fourth. When Vandy attempted a double steal, Will Allen's throw went into left field, and when Mathis retrieved it, his throw went over second base.

Vandy went into the bottom of the seventh in a scoreless game and left with four runs on four hits and two errors.

***

About 40 minutes out. Rebels need a win to have a chance to win the series tomorrow.

LINEUPS

Vanderbilt

2B Tony Kemp .260

RF Mike Yastrzemski .281

SS Anthony Gomez .357

1B Conrad Gregor .309

C Spencer Navin .294

CF Connor Harrell .253

DH Riley Reynolds .214

3B Vince Conde .213

LF Jack Lupo .276

LHP Sam Selman 8-3, 4.03

Ole Miss

LF Tanner Mathis .336

CF Auston Bousfield .268

2B Alex Yarbrough .397

1B Matt Snyder .330

C Will Allen .329

DH John Gatlin .314

3B Andrew Mistone .235

RF Preston Overbey .267

SS Blake Newalu .357

RHP Mike Mayers 4-2, 4.04

We don't usually keep a clock on post-game speeches. It's done “by feel” as coaches like to say. The feeling was that last night's lasted a bit longer than a Game 1 postgame does.

Two pitchers were outstanding last night, a 5-hit complete game by Vanderbilt's TJ Pecoraro, and a 3-hitter by Bobby Wahl.

The difference was who took advantage of limited opportunities. That was Vanderbilt.

Mike Bianco talked a little to us about his postgame speech.

“The message is you've got to play better in these games. There are game in college baseball now, a lot more than there used to be, more 2-0, 1-0, 3-2, 4-2 games, and if you're going to win those games you can't leave guys at third base. You've got to get the clutch, timely hit, you've got to make plays on defense, or you end up on the wrong end of that.

“If we're going to improve and have success, we have to play better. It isn't like we played terrible, but they played really good. The few opportunities, they only had two innings. The message is you've got to make those plays. When you pick them off, you've got to get it to the third baseman so he can tag him out. You've got to catch the ball, and the guys wasn't going to run, they wouldn't have scored. You've got your 3- and 4-hole hitter. That's in this game, but you never know when you're going to be in this type of game.”

Clearly, Bianco was calling on his best players to step up and produce more during clutch situations, calling on the guys who have done the most to do more.

It's not an unfair challenge.

To whom more is given, more is required, and the leaders are the leaders, because they have shown the ability to make plays.

Here's a look at the Rebels' top every-day hitters, statistically, and what they've done over the last 10 games.

Alex Yarbrough – Hitting .300 with 1 double, 3 RBIs.

Matt Snyder – Hitting .216 with 1 double, 2 home runs, 6 RBIs. Walk-off HR vs. UT.

Tanner Mathis – Hitting .349 with 3 doubles, 5 runs scored.

Will Allen – Hitting .312 with 2 doubles, 4 RBIs.

You could see this break-up coming. Enormous lost potential. Brassell is done. The release does not identify the remaining two players who did not complete 18 hours passed by the end of spring.

- PA

From Media Relations

OXFORD– Sophomore Nickolas Brassell has elected to transfer from Ole Miss after losing his academic eligibility, as announced Friday by Rebel head coach Hugh Freeze.

“We did all we could do to help Nick, and we wish him the very best,” said Freeze.

Brassell saw action in all 12 games as a freshman, starting six times at wide receiver and once at cornerback. He totaled 24 receptions for 336 yards and two touchdown catches on offense and 14 tackles and five pass breakups on defense.

Earlier this week a USA Today report on spending in college athletics sent off some warning bells when it judged that Ole Miss was not self-sufficient.

Associate AD for finance John Hartwell has always said it's about how the school writes its financial reports. For Ole Miss, it's simply a matter of writing a check from the Foundation to athletics to cover whatever overage has occurred and bring the balance to zero.

“It's a very common practice,” Hartwell said.

Had Ole Miss listed all donations to the Foundation, revenue for athletics would have jumped to about $60 million for the reporting period, Hartwell said.

The real question here is are you competing on the field? There's a popular belief that financial success and competition success are closely connected.

Hartwell says he's confident Ole Miss is giving its athletes and coaches the resources to be successful.

“The flip side is we have to continue to find ways to grow revenue streams. That's the bottom line. We have streamlined from expenses. We feel very efficient on the expenditure side, but expenditures will only stay constant or increase. All you have to do to see that is look at the expansion of the league with Texas A&M and Missouri and see that additional travel. We have to grow ticket revenue, priority seating revenue and look for new streams.”

When people think revenue streams, they tend to think television. It's those TV contracts that are often in the news, but schools have to find other revenue sourcing as well. Website advertising is a possibility. Sometimes a new stream might be  a matter of how you report things. The recently signed Nike deal is an example of that, Hartwell says.

“Revenue can be a broad term. There can be sponsorship deals too. There was a lot of talk about our Nike renewal contract, but that's going from $750 million to $1.6 million next year and $2 million after that. Even though that's not cash in pocket, that's money that we do not have to spend on apparel. That's uniforms, practice gear, socks, jocks, the whole nine yards. We have to find cash coming in but also sponsorship deals that eliminate having to spend money in certain areas.”

FINAL: Vanderbilt 3, Ole Miss 0

Tanner Mathis video

A carry-over from the Tennessee series in the sense that Ole Miss really didn't play that well offensively last weekend, even though it won three games.

Vanderbilt's T.J. Pecoraro was making his sixth SEC start. He'd given up at least two earned runs in the previous five. At times he has struggled with walks. He didn't last week at LSU when he walked just one batter in eight innings in a no-decision Vandy loss, and he didn't struggle with walks tonight, not a single one in nine innings.

Pecoraro's control kept the Rebels from putting together a big inning. They had five hits, couldn't string them together and couldn't follow a hit with a walk.

Bobby Wahl had a nice game, the third straight week he's pitched at least seven innings, but pitcher's don't score, and Wahl had no run support. Wahl went 7.1 innings, scattered three hits, walked two and struck out five. He allowed three runs, two earned.

The Rebels reached third base just once in the game, and that inning, the top of the sixth, ended with Tanner Mathis being thrown out at home while trying to advance on a fly ball from Matt Snyder to left field that really wasn't that deep.

Afterward, Mike Bianco called on his best players to be even better, saying Alex Yarbrough, Snyder and Wahl needed to do more in close games like tonight when opportunities are fewer.

There were no multiple hits for Ole Miss. The five basehits came from Mathis, a double, Snyder, Zach Kirksey, Blake Newalu and Sikes Orvis.

I'll have live updates on Twitter and will be back here after the game.

***

LINEUPS

VANDERBILT

2B Tony Kemp .265

RF Mike Yastrzemski .284

SS Anthony Gomez .357

1B Conrad Gregor .309

C Spencer Navin .300

DH Connor Castellano .242

CF Connor Harrell .259

3B Vince Conde .210

LF Jack Lupo .282

RHP TJ Pecoraro 0-4, 4.60

OLE MISS

LF Tanner Mathis .338

CF Auston Bousfield .273

2B Alex Yarbrough .405

1B Matt Snyder .332

C Will Allen .337

DH Zach Kirksey .283

3B Andrew Mistone .239

RF Will Jamison

SS Blake Newalu .353

RHP Bobby Wahl 6-1, 2.18

It was November when it was announced that Houston Nutt would not return as coach for the Rebels.

I asked him if he thought he might be interested in a broadcast career. He gave a very lukewarm response.

Now he's linked up with Sirius. I am not a subscriber, and I wonder if Mississippians will be intrigued enough to sign up. Nutt, which coaching at Ole Miss, seemed to stir the emotions of the Arkansas folks too. He did this without trying. Maybe there are some subscriptions to be had that way.

Anyway, it should be interesting.

I spoke with Hugh Freeze a minute ago for an update on football academics now that the spring semester has ended.

The immediate need for his players with grades concerns in the spring semester was to get to 18 hours passed.

Freeze said when he took over he had 25 players with some sort of issue, many of them concerning the need to get to 18 hours.

Reaching this point doesn't make them eligible, but without reaching the hours minimum – and thereby continuing on with classes for the summer semester – the players could not continue to work toward to requirements of grade point average and percentage of degree requirements complete.

Freeze is very pleased with how things turned out for his team in the spring.

However, three players that he did not name did not reach the 18-hour minimum. Those players are in discussions with counselors and faculty members to see what options might still be available to help them get there.

Freeze could have a final word on those three players as early as Friday or perhaps Monday.

“They are working with faculty right now to find any possible avenue they can to resolve their issue,” Freeze said. “I am not confident that will occur with all three.”

Among the players who have passed the hours, there will still be some other issues such as GPA that will need improvement.

Clearing the academic hurdles may not be enough for some to remain with the football team. Freeze said he will consider all factors for each individual case before deciding if he'll keep some players.

As far as those who have now met the 18-hours requirement, “I'm really confident that they all can make it (GPA), but even though they can make it, it doesn't mean that I will renew them. I am a visual guy. I want to look at the whole spectrum of the team, who made poor choices off the field, whether they continue to do that, what they bring to our team.

“I don't like to give up on anyone, but I know the situation we're in. A message has to be sent.

“But I'm confident that everyone could be eligible come fall except the three who may not get to 18 hours.”

Needing one win to guarantee a .500 record for SEC play, the Rebels have a good shot tonight with Bobby Wahl.

The sophomore right-hander has given the Rebels a chance in most SEC Game 1s with a 6-1 record, a 2.18 ERA, which ranks second in the SEC.

More recently, Wahl has been able to get deeper into games. Arm soreness limited Wahl to four innings at Kentucky, a week after he'd gone eight innings with no runs and two hits allowed against Florida. Following the Kentucky game – no decision for Wahl and a loss for Ole Miss – Georgia got his pitch count up early. It was more about just not pitching well and not about arm soreness in Athens, Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said. He left after 105 pitches and 4.1 innings. The end result was another no-decision for Wahl, loss for Ole Miss.

Following the Georgia start, Wahl was pitching well at home against Arkansas when rain began and forced a suspended game.

Wahl went six innings against Mississippi State but lost against Chris Stratton – his only loss of the season – and has gone seven innings the last two weeks. There was a no-decision in a 13-inning loss to LSU and a win against Tennessee.

“I think the biggest thing is throwing more strikes. I've been doing all the extra stuff with Tony Barnett, our trainer, and strengthening my shoulder and arm, doing all that. That allows me to get deeper into games,” Wahl said.

Bianco is glad to see Wahl get deeper into games and wants to keep him on the mound as long as possible.

With seven innings from Wahl against Tennessee and a very efficient two-inning outing by RJ Hively to get the save, Hively was fresh and ready to start the Sunday game against the Vols. It was the first time the pitching plan has worked that way since Bianco moved Hively from the rotation to the bullpen for the Arkansas series.

“We have confidence in our bullpen with Hively, (Brett) Huber and a lot of other guys from (Chris) Ellis to (Aaron) Greenwood, (Hawting) Buchanan, they've all pitched really well at times, but the longer you can keep your ace in, the better off you are,” Bianco said.

A few notes this morning before getting on the road to Nashville. 

Game 1 for Ole Miss and Vanderbilt is tonight at 6:30 and will be televised by ESPNU.

There are other scenarios to get Vanderbilt to the NCAA tournament, but the Commodores are hoping for a sweep of Ole Miss in the final SEC series.

Three wins for Vanderbilt would put the Commodores two games over .500 heading into the SEC tournament.

Teams must be at least one game over .500 to be eligible for an at-large bid.

Ole Miss is currently 14-13 in SEC play. One series win will secure a break-even conference season with a 15-15 mark. Only twice under Mike Bianco - in 2002 and in 2011 - have the Rebels finished with a losing record in SEC play. Both of those teams failed to reach the NCAA tournament, though there are chances that a 14-16 mark this season, given the Rebels' overall record and RPI would get them in the NCAA tournament. ...

ESPN blogger Edward Aschoff writes about the "journey" for Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss football. Interesting comments here from Mike Marry regarding Freeze and discipline, and Freeze talks a little bit about his recruiting and trying to attract SEC talent to Oxford.