Signing day is Wednesday, February 1, meaning that this weekend marks the absolute last weekend a high school prospect can take an official visit before they're allowed to send in their LOIs. As such, this is naturally a big recruiting weekend for any BCS school, with Ole Miss being no exception.

According to Scout.com, the following players are listed to visit Oxford this week.

• Sheldon Dawson, Defensive Back, Memphis
• Marion Grice, Halfback, Blinn CC
• Justin Taylor, Halfback, Atlanta
• Robert Conyers, Offensive Tackle, Miami
• Cory Batey, Wide Receiver, Nashville
• Quintavius Burdette, Halfback, Senatobia
• Kendrick Singleton, Glen Saint Mary, Florida
• Cody Core, Wide Reciever, Auburn
• Dexter Holmes, Wide Receiver, Iowa Falls

Of that group, Dawson is the guy the coaches are seeking the services of the most. He's a bigger, quicker defensive back with an offer list boasting more than a few SEC schools. He is the high school teammate of current Rebel commit Jaylon Walton, but doesn't seem to be too swayed by a desire to play with Walton. Still, staying close to home might mean a lot to him, considering that Dawson was a longtime Memphis commit.

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Last night, the Rebels had an opportunity to defeat another top-15 ranked SEC team at home and place themselves in control of their own NCAA destiny. With Florida, a team known for its struggles on the road this year, coming into town, Ole Miss players, students, and fans were excited about this possibility, and that energy showed during the first 20 minutes of the contest. For a half, the Rebels were in command of the Gators, and simply looked like the better basketball team, as hard as that may be to believe.

The Rebels, for that first half, played harter and smarter. They made more difficult shots, grabbed more rebounds, did a better job of controlling the flow of the game, and generally played with more confidence and authority than Florida.

Then, the second half happened.

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It hasn't been an incredible season thus far. It hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been particularly great, either. There are a couple of good wins under this team's belt, just as there are a few embarrassing losses. Such is college basketball, I suppose, but such shouldn't deter anybody with the reasonable means to do so from making their way to the Tad Pad tonight to watch the Ole Miss Rebels take on the #13 Florida Gators in what could be a "swing" type of game regarding the remainder of this season and this squad's NCAA Tournament ambitions.

Going in Ole Miss' favor are a few key factors. First, Ole Miss us undefeated at home, while Florida is 1-3 on the road. The Gators' road losses, though, aren't exactly horrifying - a loss at Tennessee as well as losses at highly ranked Ohio State and Syracuse teams. Ole Miss should have the advantage off of the glass, with Florida being one of the SEC's worst rebounding teams, whereas our Rebels are, statistically, the best rebounding team in the conference (averaging 43.6 boards a game, whereas Florida averages 31.3). If the gameplans used against Mississippi State and Georgia are effective tonight, the Rebels should be able to control the ball below the bucket.

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Gators' three-guard system faces test vs. Ole Miss | Gainesville.com
Florida coach Billy Donovan said earlier this month he had no reservations going into Southeastern Conference play with a three-guard starting lineup.

Bo Wallace Cited for Minor in Possession | The Clarion Ledger
Rebel quarterback Bo Wallace got an MIP last night at Roosters. To our detractors, this is prima facie evidence that Bo Wallace is a "thug" and wholly unfit to quarterback an SEC team. Which is fine, whatever. I'll let them wallow in their stupid Schadenfreude. If you haven't been a student at Ole Miss in the past fifteen years or so, perhaps you don't know that getting an MIP in Oxford is seemingly easier than getting a speeding ticket (and, legally, there's hardly a distinction between the two).

In the News: Ole Miss will look into possible minor violation | The Commercial Appeal
Speaking of illegal activity, our compliance people are going to look into whether or not Snoop Brassell's birthday party's promotion (which reached about an 8.5 on the South Panola Swagscale), which involved an online marketing campaign and fliers, could count as a minor NCAA violation. I don't really know much about the NCAA's draconian rules, but since it a) happened and b) involved an SEC football team, even tangentially, I'm sure it's an infraction.

2012 SEC Football Schedule: Winners, Losers And Standings Projections | SBNation.com
SBNation's college football numbers guru, Bill Connelly, doesn't see Ole Miss improving on 2-10 next season. Lordamercy let's hope he's wrong.

Oxford listed as the 15th fastest growing city in America | Forbes
According to this, Oxford's 2010 population was 47,351, which is far, far higher than I would have imagined. I'm assuming that they're counting univeristy students (many of which aren't technically residents of Oxford) in that figure, because Oxford certainly doesn't have the look or feel of a town with any more than 30K.

In our continued effort to hopefully impart onto you a little bit of knowledge on just who exactly comprises the 2012 Ole Miss Rebel baseball team, we at the Cup would like to take a look at the guy Mike Bianco is counting on to win the ever important Friday night SEC matchups - sophomore pitcher Bobby Wahl.

A Virginia native, Bobby Wahl is worked primarily out of the bullpen as a closer during his freshman season, but he, despite youth and (relative) inexperience, has progressed well enough to earn the most importent spot in the Rebel rotation. His stats from last season aren't exactly eyepoppoing, however. He posted just an 0-2 record with a 4.80 ERA after only 30 innings of pitching. He earned four saves - one over Arkansas State, the other three over Kentucky and Auburn - struck out 26, walked 11, and gave up 33 hits. His opponents batted .270 against him, which isn't at all bad for a true freshman working as a closer.

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