Interesting update here from Daily Journal sports editor John Pitts on former Ole Miss star Seth Smith, who is in his first season in Oakland. Boss wonders if Smith, who has hit a stride in May after a slow start, might not be setting himself up for the lead role in the sequel to "Moneyball." A good read.

With the busy time that the close of the spring semester becomes on the high school front, it took a while to get this to print, but hte Joe Walker feature appeared today.

It's been a long and successful run for Walker at Ole Miss. He'll join his son at the University of Louisville later this summer. The move will allow Walker to spend more time with his grandchildren.

Notes and observations from the Rebels' loss in Jonesboro ...

A few weeks ago Josh Laxer had all the right stuff (7 ip, 4 hits) in a combined shutout of Southern Miss, but the freshman right-hander hasn't been as good as he was against the Golden Eagles since that time.

Laxer gave up two hits, two runs (both earned) and three walks in three innings. He actually had a 2-1 lead after three innings, but in the fourth inning, things began to unravel.

Casey Mulholland and Dylan Chavez struggled behind him.

Arkansas State totaled 14 hits off six Ole Miss pitchers.

Mid-week games and weekend conference games are incredibly different, because who's on the mound changes everything. Pitching depth has at times been pretty good on the weekends, particuarly last weekend against Tennessee when Tanner Bailey and Aaron Greenwood had such strong outings out of the pen. If Mike Bianco can manage the staff in such a way that R.J. Hively is available to start Game 3, so much the better for the Rebels.

The Arkansas State game, however, shows an unfortunate state of depth on the whole, and that will be magnified in tournament play.

Earlier this week Boyd Nation didn't think a loss at Arkansas State would have too much of a negative impact on the Ole Miss RPI. Too much water under the bridge at this. Boyd's numbers aren't out yet this morning, but Warren Nolan's RPI computes Ole Miss at No. 21 following the Jonesboro loss. Ole Miss went into the game at No. 20, and now they play their final three regular season games on the road at an opponent ranked No. 35.

We'll talk to players and coaches today before they board the bus for Nashville.

Fifth in a series.

Well, what better way to break into SEC play than with the national champion on the road.

That will be the official “welcome to the league” game for new Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze as the Rebels travel to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 29 after four straight non-conference games.

Ole Miss began the Alabama game like a ball of fire last year at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, moving 72 yards in five plays, positive gains each time.

The third play was a 59-yard pass-and-run from Randall Mackey to Nick Brassell. As talented is Brassell is, Alabama had enough speed to catch him from behind and keep him from getting into the end zone.

He did get the ball to the 2, however, and two plays later – the second of two-straight 1-yard runs – Jeff Scott scored, and the Rebels led 7-0.

Alabama went on to score 52 unanswered points in the 52-7 win.

It was still a respectable game at halftime, the Rebels down just 17-7. But Alabama scored 28 third-quarter points, and set in motion a series of games in which the Rebels couldn't quite answer the bell after halftime. In trying to address that problem Houston Nutt had his players leave the locker room early at Auburn a couple of weeks later and go through a second round of warm-ups.

Looking ahead, there's no reason to think the SEC losing streak will not reach 15 games here.

Most programs in the SEC are not at the level of Alabama, certainly not a team that went winless in the league last year and is transitioning with a new head coach.

Alabama returns five starters on offense, four on defense. Each of its 13 starters lost were either drafted or signed NFL free agent contracts.

Among the five starters back on offense is Outland Trophy winner Barrett Jones, who played left tackle last year but has moved to center. Defensive end Jesse Williams has moved inside to nose tackle.

In a glimpse of why the program remains consistent, eight members of a top-ranked recruiting class enrolled early and participated in spring drills. One of them, running back T.J. Yeldon, was named Dixie Howell MVP in the spring game after accounting for 179 all-purpose yards. Yeldon caught five passes for 91 yards and a touchdown and rushed 16 times for 88 yards.

His White team defeated the Crimson 24-15.