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The longstanding joke among Mississippi baseball fans is that Omaha, Neb., site of the annual College World Series, is also an acronym.
“Ole Miss At Home Again.”
And there was always some truth to it. In a 50-season stretch between 1972 and 2021, the Rebels made it to this stage exactly once, in 2014. Contrast that with bitter rival Mississippi State, whose title last year came in its 12th World Series appearance since 1971. Heck, even Southern Miss had equaled that one CWS (in 2009) with far fewer resources.
But this Ole Miss team has silenced so many in the last two weeks.
The Rebels, selected as the final team in the NCAA Tournament field, silenced the home crowd at the Coral Gables Regional by upsetting No. 6 national seed Miami, then they smashed the life out of Arizona with a 22-6 win to cap a perfect weekend. Then came the highly anticipated Super Regional at No. 11-seed Southern Miss, where Ole Miss silenced the Golden Eagles and a large swath of Hattiesburg with shutout wins of 10-0 and 5-0.
Rebels head coach Mike Bianco has won 859 games in Oxford, and this Super Regional appearance was his eighth in 22 years. But a maddening 1-6 record on that stage, with five losses in deciding Game 3s, allowed doubts to creep in and noise to rise up. There were moments this season, when Ole Miss fell from No. 1 in the country to last place in the SEC, that fans were questioning Bianco’s future.
The question now, with the Rebels boasting one of just two perfect records in this chaotic NCAA Tournament, is how long the surge can last.
The eight-team, double-elimination CWS started Friday afternoon, and Ole Miss’ matchup against No. 14-seed Auburn is set for 6 p.m. Saturday. With dominant, brash, No. 1-seed Tennessee losing to Notre Dame last weekend, the title feels up for grabs.
No. 2-seed Stanford and No. 9 Texas are the only squads returning from last year’s CWS. Auburn and No. 5 A&M are the only other seeded teams. Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Arkansas are obviously all playing well, but none are as hot as the Rebels.
Ole Miss’ high expectations stemmed from its offensive pedigree. And while inconsistency and injuries made for a turbulent season, the big names — Tim Elko, Jacob Gonzalez, Kevin Graham and more — are clicking now. But the pitching brilliance is just as important.
With the team struggling on the mound midseason, Bianco briefly scrapped the concept of starters and made each game a bullpen game in hopes that someone might step up. Junior Dylan DeLucia and freshman Hunter Elliott did just that, and both were excellent in Hattiesburg. The Rebels only needed four total pitchers in two victories and traveled to Omaha with a fresh bullpen.
This certainly wasn’t Ole Miss’ best season, and it’s probably not Bianco’s best team. But it’s the one that placed the stamp on his decorated tenure, and maybe — just maybe — it’ll be the one that reaches the mountaintop.
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