msstate7
01-27-2015, 08:21 PM
Yeah, I really wanna ruin their season.
Hugh's latest article...
OXFORD -- Earlier this week the Ole Miss players watched a 10-second YouTube clip from last season's game at Mississippi State. Normal, right? Young men in their early 20s watching a short online video isn't exactly News at 11.
But it was not from the actual game, but instead the Bulldog locker room afterwards: coach Rick Ray dancing the nae nae while celebrating an upset win. This, combined with Mississippi State point guard I.J. Ready's declaration Monday that the Basketball Egg Bowl is "like life-and-death", has led to a feeling in Oxford: these guys care more about this game than the Rebels do.
"They do take it more seriously because we watched a clip of them dancing and we would never do that if we beat them," forward Dwight Coleby said. "We would never go to that extreme."
Said guard Martavious Newby: "It's like the Super Bowl to them."
This is not to say that Ole Miss (12-7, 3-3 SEC) does not want to win Wednesday's home game (8 p.m., SEC Network) any less than Mississippi State (9-10, 2-4) does. The reasons may just differ slightly.
"It's important for us, first and foremost, because it's the next game and a home game, and we need to make sure we match the intensity that I'm sure Mississippi State will bring to the game," coach Andy Kennedy said.
Newby's theory for why the intensity of the rivalry does not currently match is based on his own experiences: a junior, Newby is 3-2 against Mississippi State. The Rebels have had a better record going into three of the five matchups (four regular season, one in the SEC tournament) and the teams were tied the other two times. Ole Miss is also 2-0 in Oxford, and has won the last two meetings overall.
"We always have a better record than Mississippi State but there's something about Mississippi State that we always don't play up to our potential," Newby said. "And it's like by them being State they feel like they're the underdogs of the state of Mississippi because they feel like they should be more recognized than Ole Miss. It causes State to play like that against us."
Ole Miss has plenty of players experienced in this rivalry, including three four-year seniors in Jarvis Summers, LaDarius White and Aaron Jones. But this will be the first game against the Bulldogs for leading scorer Stefan Moody and graduate transfers M.J. Rhett and Terence Smith. All three started their careers at the lower level of Division I, but Kennedy said he thinks they'll figure the nature of this rivalry quickly.
"It'll become pretty evident," Kennedy said. "They had an opportunity to see the impact of the Egg Bowl and how important that game was to both schools."
Ole Miss is coming off a come-from-behind win against Florida, is No. 48 in the official NCAA RPI and, like it is most every season, firmly on the bubble in late January. Just practically it can hardly afford a home loss against Mississippi State (RPI No. 210), even if the Bulldogs have won two of their last three.
"We're just looking forward to playing them," Newby said.
Hugh's latest article...
OXFORD -- Earlier this week the Ole Miss players watched a 10-second YouTube clip from last season's game at Mississippi State. Normal, right? Young men in their early 20s watching a short online video isn't exactly News at 11.
But it was not from the actual game, but instead the Bulldog locker room afterwards: coach Rick Ray dancing the nae nae while celebrating an upset win. This, combined with Mississippi State point guard I.J. Ready's declaration Monday that the Basketball Egg Bowl is "like life-and-death", has led to a feeling in Oxford: these guys care more about this game than the Rebels do.
"They do take it more seriously because we watched a clip of them dancing and we would never do that if we beat them," forward Dwight Coleby said. "We would never go to that extreme."
Said guard Martavious Newby: "It's like the Super Bowl to them."
This is not to say that Ole Miss (12-7, 3-3 SEC) does not want to win Wednesday's home game (8 p.m., SEC Network) any less than Mississippi State (9-10, 2-4) does. The reasons may just differ slightly.
"It's important for us, first and foremost, because it's the next game and a home game, and we need to make sure we match the intensity that I'm sure Mississippi State will bring to the game," coach Andy Kennedy said.
Newby's theory for why the intensity of the rivalry does not currently match is based on his own experiences: a junior, Newby is 3-2 against Mississippi State. The Rebels have had a better record going into three of the five matchups (four regular season, one in the SEC tournament) and the teams were tied the other two times. Ole Miss is also 2-0 in Oxford, and has won the last two meetings overall.
"We always have a better record than Mississippi State but there's something about Mississippi State that we always don't play up to our potential," Newby said. "And it's like by them being State they feel like they're the underdogs of the state of Mississippi because they feel like they should be more recognized than Ole Miss. It causes State to play like that against us."
Ole Miss has plenty of players experienced in this rivalry, including three four-year seniors in Jarvis Summers, LaDarius White and Aaron Jones. But this will be the first game against the Bulldogs for leading scorer Stefan Moody and graduate transfers M.J. Rhett and Terence Smith. All three started their careers at the lower level of Division I, but Kennedy said he thinks they'll figure the nature of this rivalry quickly.
"It'll become pretty evident," Kennedy said. "They had an opportunity to see the impact of the Egg Bowl and how important that game was to both schools."
Ole Miss is coming off a come-from-behind win against Florida, is No. 48 in the official NCAA RPI and, like it is most every season, firmly on the bubble in late January. Just practically it can hardly afford a home loss against Mississippi State (RPI No. 210), even if the Bulldogs have won two of their last three.
"We're just looking forward to playing them," Newby said.