What do the Rebels have to do to get there?

It’s all about 9-7 for the Rebels, and if they really want to remove all doubt, 10-6. If Ole Miss can get to 9-7 it should have a mid 30s RPI and would have an overall record of 21-9. That should be enough to get in. The Rebels have a 36 RPI right now.

Working against the Rebels will be the perception of SEC basketball. Real or imagined it doesn’t matter, perception is reality for a lot of people. The SEC is fourth among conferences in RPI right now, but there may be a temptation to punish the conference by reducing its number of bids. IF that’s the case, winning the Western Division means nothing. I could see Eastern Division bids for Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida. Just four SEC teams getting in is not unprecedented.

So 21-9, 9-7 would build a strong case for Ole Miss without having to make a deep run or win a game at the SEC tournament in Nashville. A 10-6 mark would leave the Rebels 22-8 and would remove all doubt.

In either case, the Rebels have a good bit of work to do. They’ve got to win four games to get to 9-7, they’ve got home games against Auburn and LSU coming up. LSU is struggling. Auburn won’t be a gimme, but both of those games are games the Rebels should win.Then they’ve got Florida and Vanderbilt at home, both would be good RPI wins for Ole Miss and having those in the left hand column would go a long way during at-large bid discussions.

So, playing so poorly and losing the rescheduled home game against Arkansas hurts, but it can be overcome, particularly if the Rebels who played the second half against Alabama show up for the remainder of the season and if Buckner not only returns but returns to the level of production he was showing at the time of his injury.

Taping radio this morning, then over to Ole Miss for basketball interviews.

The Rebels are off until an 8 p.m. tip at Mississippi State Thursday.

We’re still watching Brad Locke, our MSU writer, who remains hospitalized after his wreck a week ago. We’re praying and hopeful he’ll be released soon.

I’ll be in Starkville Thursday and again Saturday for MSU-Auburn. The Rebels are off Saturday, and I am helping on the MSU beat in Brad’s absence.

Elsewhere …

Here’s a little from Chris Low, who ranks the biggest losses from SEC football teams going into 2010:

4. Ole Miss running back Dexter McCluster: Staying in the state of Mississippi, there wasn’t a more productive or feared player in the league during the second half of the season than McCluster. From the Arkansas game on (or once he moved full time to running back), he carved opposing defenses apart and made the Rebels’ offense so much better with his ability to strike from long distance. The Rebels didn’t have to put together long drives all the time because the speedy McCluster was popping long runs left and right. There’s not player in this league, let alone on Ole Miss’ roster, just like McCluster. After all, he became the first player in SEC history to rush for 1,000 yards and have 500 yards receiving in the same season in 2009. It may be that the Rebels have to divvy up his roles next season. Junior Brandon Bolden returns as the featured back, but junior college newcomer Randall Mackey looks like a great fit in the Wild Rebel formation. And Ole Miss also needs to find more ways to get the ball to Jesse Grandy. The wild card is Tim Simon, who looked great early on as a freshman before suffering a nasty knee injury. His recovery could be a lengthy one.

Finally, from the Mothership, here is my opinion piece on joy of victory in Super XLIV. Taking the day off from work.

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.

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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.