Athlon Sports College Football Preview magazine is out on the newsstands with a glimpse of all 131 Football Bowl Subdivision Division I teams and how they rate going into the 2022 season. In our state Ole Miss is ranked 28th followed by Mississippi State at 30th and Southern Miss at 103rd. Ole Miss (10-3) and Mississippi State (7-6) might have a tough time reaching last year’s win totals while Southern Miss (3-9) should improve by a couple of games, according to Athlon.
Athlon's final analysis of Ole Miss: The Rebels lost 11 starters but reloaded as well as anyone through the transfer portal. The determining factor of another great season in Oxford will be the winner of the quarterback battle between last year’s backup Luke Altmyer and USC transfer Jaxson Dart. Top to bottom, however, this year’s roster is about as talented as last year’s team because of the transfer additions. Prediction: In the Texas Bowl vs.Texas, the Rebels will be 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the SEC West.
Athlon's final analysis of Mississippi State: Quarterback Will Rogers is the centerpiece to lead a high-powered Mississippi State offense and a team that leads the SEC with 16 starters returning. A difficult schedule this fall with road trips to Arizona, Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss and a home game with defending national champion Georgia could make it difficult to improve on last year’s 7-6 mark. Prediction: In the Birmingham Bowl vs. Maryland, the Bulldogs will be 7-5 overall and 3-5 in the SEC West.
Athlon final analysis of Southern Miss: A fresh start to the Sun Belt gives hope to USM for the future. The positive point last year was that the defense played well; however, the offense and special teams were a disappointment. The good thing is the defense will be better while the offense and special teams will definitely be better in 2022. Will Hall begins his second season and will be counting on Taylorsville’s Ty Keyes to stay healthy and run the offense. Prediction: The Golden Eagles will improve by two games over last year with a 5-7 overall record and a 4-4 mark in the Sun Belt Western Division.
Athlon had Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson as the top four teams in their prediction. Texas A&M, Michigan, Notre Dame, Utah, USC and Oregon round out the Top 10. SEC members Tennessee (18), Kentucky (21) and Arkansas (23) were predicted to finish in the Top 25.
The other conference predictions had Cincinnati winning the AAC, and top choices being Baylor in the Big 12, Clemson in the ACC, Ohio State in the Big 10, UAB in C-USA, Boise State in the Mountain West, Utah in the PAC-12 and Appalachian State in the Sun Belt.
After the initial year of college sports’ name, image and likeness era (NIL), football and men’s basketball are leading in the number of deals and average compensation. The total amount spent was $97 million, NIL platform Opendorse estimated. Social media is the most popular way to make money for college athletes.
Next week all the nation’s sports media will be in Atlanta for the Southeastern Conference Media Days. This should be another interesting Media Days because a lot has changed in college football since this time last year.
Two Ole Miss and one Southern Mississippi baseball player have made the Collegiate National Baseball Team. Ole Miss pitcher Hunter Elliott and shortstop Jacob Gonzalez along with Golden Eagle pitcher Tanner Hall made the elite 26-member squad. Also making the squad was Hurston Waldrep, who pitched for the Golden Eagles this spring but has opted for the NCAA Transfer Portal. Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco is leading the USA team for a tournament this week in the Netherlands against other National teams from around the globe. Bianco has three assistant coaches with Mississippi connections in his son Drew Bianco, East Carolina coach Cliff Goodwin and former Ole Miss player Xan Barksdale.
Dale has been writing sports in Mississippi since 1973. Listen to Dale’s Brouhaha Sports Show with Marshall Wood each Tuesday at 6 p.m. on WABO FM 105.5 in the Waynesboro area. To listen to the broadcast on your computer or smart phone anywhere in the world, go to Google Chrome; go to wabo105.com and click listen live. You may also go to The Brouhaha on YouTube and listen to archived shows.
