Sunday has been a crazy day of college football coach firings, creating more vacancies with more wish lists and more rumor-mongering.

Memphis, UAB, Kansas, Illinois … and that was just before dark on Sunday. I read someplace that perhaps 15 major college schools will replace head coaches before the 2012 season begins. In a couple of cases, those could create other openings. And so on.

So where does that leave Ole Miss?

Well, it leaves the school with a bit of a head start, assuming the last couple of weeks have been well spent. 

There was even a report at one point on Saturday that new coach might be introduced today, or that there might be campus interviews on Monday. Anybody looked at the NFL schedule? Eli Manning and the New York Giants are in New Orleans on Monday night.

A decision is coming, of course. This week? More likely soon after the SEC Championship Game. 

The short list we keep hearing about includes Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora, Arkansas State coach Hugh Freeze, Louisiana-Lafayette coach Mark Hudspeth, Alabama defensive co-ordinator Kirby Smart and maybe former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.

Is that a real list or just the stuff that fills the vacuum in the absence of real news?

Some of those are names you'e now going to hear linked to other jobs. Leach, in particular, might prefer to take his air show to the Pac-12, where pass defenses are more notional than in the SEC.