No. 11 OLE MISS REBELS

Nutt, Snead have expectations high in Oxford

One of the Cinderella stories of 2008, Ole Miss starts the 2009 season just outside the top 10. But the '08 season started as inconspicuous as most others in Oxford, where Ole Miss has done a large bit of nothing over the past 45 years. The Rebels started 2-2 with narrow losses to academic heavyweights Wake Forest and Vanderbilt, but it was in late September where new coach Houston Nutt and his Rebels made the season-defining statement when they knocked off eventual champion Florida in the Swamp.

And how did Ole Miss respond to the possible program defining win? With losses at home to South Carolina and (a narrow loss) to eventual SEC West champion Alabama. At 3-4 in mid-October, Ole Miss looked to be back to regular form but then ran off six consecutive victories - including wins over Auburn, LSU and Big XII South co-champion Texas Tech - to end the season at 9-4.

And it was those wins that have gotten Ole Miss into the national conscious, and many think the Rebels have a chance to unseat Alabama and LSU to make their first SEC Championship Game ever. Playing almost no one of note out-of-conference, the Rebels' most difficult road game looks to be either South Carolina on Sept. 26 or Auburn on Halloween. Their three toughest games - Alabama, Tennessee and LSU will all have to come to Vaught-Hemingway.

But the major question - outside of whether Jevan Snead is the best QB in the SEC - is if perennial underachiever Ole Miss will be able to play at the same level as it closed last season with the large bulls-eye on its back. Nutt's team won't be able to sneak up on anyone, and if Ole Miss is actually going to make a run at a trip to Atlanta, it will have to earn it.

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Part of a two-week long look into the 2009 Preseason Southern Fans' College Football Poll. New posts released each day, culminating with the No. 1 team on September 2.