FUN WITH SCHEDULES: Ole Miss will play four Nick Saban connections in a row in 2018

Most every college football team’s 2018 schedule dropped on Tuesday, a weirdly niche sort of time for college football Twitter, because we’re just into Week 4 of the 2017 season, and we’re already griping about the fact that Ole Miss has to play LSU in freaking September next year. Such is life.

So, Ole Miss’ 2018 slate is as follows:

• Texas Tech, Sept. 1, Houston, Texas
• Southern Illinois, Sept. 8, Oxford, Miss.
• Alabama, Sept. 15, Oxford, Miss.
• Kent State, Sept. 22, Oxford, Miss.
• LSU, Sept. 29, Baton Rouge, La.
• Louisiana-Monroe, Oct. 6, Oxford, Miss.
• Arkansas, Oct. 13, Fayetteville, Ark.
• Auburn, Oct. 20, Oxford, Miss.
• South Carolina, Nov. 3, Oxford, Miss.
• Texas A&M, Nov. 10, College Station, Texas
• Vanderbilt, Nov. 17, Nashville, Tenn.
• Mississippi State, Nov. 22, Oxford, Miss.

Right, so with that out of the way, let’s dig into the first half of this thing, beginning with Alabama in Oxford. That’s of course Nick Saban’s current employer, and he’s been manning that particular Death Star since the whacky, wild 2007 season. That season was so zany that Nick Saban’s Tide was upended by none other than ULM, 21-14. So let’s put a pin in that little nugget and move on from here.

Ole Miss’ next opponent after #ROLLTIDE is Kent State. Nick Saban played defensive back at Kent State in the late 60s and early 70s. He was there in 1970 when four students were massacred by the national guard. After finishing school, he was on staff as a graduate assistant then later coached the linebackers. His coaching stint at his alma mater lasted from 1973 to 1976, after which time he moved on to Syracuse and a bevy of other spots around the country — including a stop-off at LSU for a national title — before eventually landing in Tuscaloosa. So, two consecutive Saban ticks off the Rebels’ 2018 schedule.

Following Kent State, the Rebs take a little trip on down to Baton Rouge to meet with Ed Orgeron’s very large cats. As we’ve already pointed out, Saban won a national championship with the Tigers way back in 2003, the year that Eli tripped over his center and Ole Miss failed to earn a trip to Atlanta. DAMN YOU, SABAN. At any rate, here then is the third consecutive Nick Saban Ole Miss will meet in the early stretch of their 2018 season.

And finally, we arrive back at #FUNBELT member ULM. The WARHAWKS. LIKE A HAWK, BUT, LIKE, GOING TO WAR. Remember the 2007 season? When the Warhawks defeated Saban, 21-14, and he went on to never lose a game ever again? That’s how crazy 2007 was. But if Saban owns Kent State and LSU and Alabama, the Warhawks still own Saban. He works for and answers to ULM and ULM alone. And so thus we meet with the fourth consecutive Nick Saban the Rebs will meet with in 2018. Four weeks. Four-straight Nick Sabans.

That’s a lot of Nick Sabans. Gonna be a hell of a time, people.