2011-12 Ole Miss Rebel Basketball Begins TONIGHT!

Hopefully not lost amid the ongoing debate as to who should lead our Rebel football team going forward is tonight's tipoff of the Ole Miss men's basketball season. At 6:30 PM central, the Rebs will take on the Warhawks (SQUAWK 'EM HAWK 'EM!) of ULM in the Tad Pad in front of what I hope is an excited, raucous home crowd. This will be the beginning to yet another season over which Rebel fans are generally pretty excited and, once again, with seemingly good reason. The Rebs have a deep and experienced front court accompanied by an athletic and highly-touted back court. 

But, while the Rebels may feel that they've improved on the past few seasons with this year's team, the rest of the (former) SEC West is likely to feel the same about their squads, and with good reason. Recruiting, coaching, and fan support have jumped a good bit in this neck of the SEC woods as of late, meaning that it the road to the NCAA Tournament seems to only get tougher for the Rebs.

Regardless, though, we're excited for a host of reasons, and hope to see a lot of questions answered over the next couple of months as we prepare for conference play. How well this offense runs through Dundrecous Nelson and Terrence Henry, as opposed to Chris Warren and Zach Graham? What kind of defensive effort can we expect by Reginald Buckner, Murphy Holloway, and Jalen Kendrick - once he becomes available? What exactly will the gameplans will be with such a large, long lineup?

So be there. If you're a student, you'll get in for free, so you have nary an excuse to miss out. Show up, be obnoxious, throw things at the ULM players, and do whatever it takes to maintain the home court advantage afforded to our program by the Tad Pad.

Hotty Toddy!