Big Rebel Sports Weekend
I'm very, very excited about today's action. For starters Andy Kennedy's roundball Rebels are looking to finally break through their glass ceiling of sorts and earn a trip to the NCAA tournament, of which a win over Tennessee today in the SEC Tournament will all but guarantee. Then, the diamond Rebels begin a weekend series against a highly-ranked Louisville team coached by former Rebel assistant Dan McDonnell. I want to check my optimism at the door but I can't. I'm too ready to get this underway. Open threads to commence shortly after lunchtime so come in, prognosticage, curse, and drop some snark.

Bloggers React to Day One | SBNation
The SBNation NCAA Basketball hub has put together the reactions of SBN's SEC bloggers to yesterday's opening day of the conference tournament. To put it briefly, Bama feels vindicated, South Carolina is upset, LSU has long since diverted their attention to baseball, Tennessee is unnerved, Georgia is taken aback, and Arkansas has already moved into the acceptance stage.

Vols Need to Take a Better Shot Against Ole Miss | Go Vols Xtra
All accross the Tennessee blogosphere a unifying attitude prevails concerning last night's game which can best be summed up as "we played like crap despite the victory." They're a bit nervous, as they should be, about today's game. They're not playing well whereas we have been. Furthermore, we're rested which could prove to be the key to victory down the stretch.

Louisville Cardinals at Ole Miss | U of L Card Game dot Com
I'm not linking this for the coverage or analysis of the series (there isn't much anyway), but rather I'm linking this to show you what their ridiculous mascot looks like. A few things:

1. There is no way that damn bird isn't on steroids. Mascots are supposed to be representatives of the community and great role models for our children (right?) and I don't think an obvious user of illicit performance enhancers fits that bill quite nicely.
2. That bird took Dexter McCluster's "L" hand gesture. That's bullshit. This bird is lucky Dex is a really nice guy.
3. How in the fuck did a bird grow teeth?\

Changes could be coming to SEC schedule | SEC Blog - ESPN
(HT: The Drake) Unbelievable.

Charles Bloom, an SEC associate commissioner, said Thursday that the league is trying to provide some relief for Alabama so that the Crimson Tide won't have to play six of their eight conference games next season when the opponent is coming off a bye week.