THE FRIENDLY SKIES
With heavy winter weather and cold temperatures affecting nearly the entire southern United States, arriving at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown has been a challenge. Unable to fly out of Oxford, Tupelo, Memphis and other nearby airports, Ole Miss bussed Friday morning to Birmingham, where they met up with Mississippi State. The two in-state rivals shared a ride to represent the SEC in Dallas.

16 AND COUNTING
Ole Miss opened the 2020 season with a defeat at home to No. 1 Louisville, led by eventual first round MLB Draft pick Reid Detmers. The Rebels haven't lost since that night reeling off 16 straight victories, a win streak that will reach its 372nd day when they begin play at the State Farm College Baseball Showdown. The streak is highlighted by back-to-back wins over top-ranked Louisville for a dramatic series victory, as well as a tournament sweep at No. 17 ECU's Keith LeClair Classic. Ole Miss has outscored its opponents by 108 runs (159-51) during the streak, which stands as the second-longest in program history and the longest since 1960.

REBS VS. FROGS
Ole Miss and TCU have met 18 times on the baseball diamond, splitting the all-time series at nine games apiece. The two teams last met on March 5, 2017, in an early-season neutral site contest at Houston's Minute Maid Park, where No. 1-ranked TCU prevailed 5-3. Prior to that, the two teams last met in Omaha at the 2014 College World Series, where Ole Miss eliminated TCU with a 6-4 victory. The Rebels and Horned Frogs have met on opening day twice. Ole Miss holds a 2-0 advantage over TCU in season-openers with wins in 2012 (7-4) and 2013 (1-0).

REBS VS. RED RAIDERS
Ole Miss and Texas Tech have met twice, splitting the pair of matchups with one victory apiece. The Red Raiders captured the last meeting, a neutral site victory at Houston's Minute Maid Park. The No. 10 Texas Tech squad topped the Rebels 5-1. The only other meeting came at the 2014 College World Series. In Omaha, the Rebels eliminated the Red Raiders with a 2-1 walkoff victory.

REBS VS. HORNS
Ole Miss has met Texas on the ballfield 19 times. The Longhorns hold a 14-5 lead in the all-time series, began in 1900 and was last renewed in 2005. Texas came to Oxford in 2005 for a Super Regional, and Mike Bianco's Rebels started strong with a 6-4 victory, but the Longhorns fought back, winning the final two games to advance to Omaha. The last five meetings in the series have all come in the postseason. The two teams haven't met during the regular season since 1912.

WEST AND HIGHLY FAVORED
Ole Miss was picked to win the SEC Western Division by the conference coaches, garnering seven of the division's 14 first-place votes. This marked the first time since 2008 that the Rebels were picked to win the SEC West. Ole Miss was projected to finish sixth in the division last season.HIGH FIDELITY RANKINGOle Miss was picked in the Top Five in five of the six major college baseball ranking services. Baseball America gave the Rebels their highest ranking at No. 4. The USA Today Coaches, NCBWA, Perfect Game and Collegiate Baseball rankings all tabbed Ole Miss at No. 5, while D1Baseball gave the Rebels a No. 6 nod.

GOLDEN ARMS
Doug Nikhazy and Gunnar Hoglund are expected to form one of college baseball's best one-two punches at the top of the rotation. Both are Preseason All-Americans and both were named to the Golden Spikes Award Watch List. They are also one of just three duos in the nation to represent the same team in the top 25 of the D1Baseball starting pitcher power rankings.

TOP RETURNER
Gunnar Hoglund had one of the best seasons in the Southeastern Conference last season, and he returns as one of the top pitchers in the conference on paper. Among returning SEC pitchers, Hoglund ranks first in strikeouts and strikeout-to-walk ratio, second in walks per nine innings, third in strikeouts per nine innings and fourth in ERA.

THE BOYS ARE BACK
Ole Miss returns all but 6.2 of its innings pitched last season. The Rebels return essentially their entire pitching staff outside of Benji Gilbert, who posted a 9.45 ERA in 6.2 innings last season.

SWAYZE SHOWER SEASON
Ole Miss led all of college baseball with 37 home runs a year ago and returns all but 12 of those home runs on the 2021 roster.

NEW LEFT SIDE
While much of the Rebel roster returns, Ole Miss will have to replace the left side of its infield as third baseman Tyler Keenan and shortstop Anthony Servideo were both taken in the 2020 MLB Draft. Keenan hit .403 last year with five doubles, seven home runs and 33 RBI—the second most in the nation last year—and went to the Seattle Mariners in the fourth round. Servideo hit .390 and ranked second nationally with 24 runs scored and hit five home runs of his own before being selected in the third round by the Baltimore Orioles. Senior captain Tim Elko is likely to replace Keenan at third, while freshman Jacob Gonzalez will get the nod at shortstop.

TIM'S TIME
Tim Elko was voted captain by his teammtes for the second straight season. He was also selected to the NCBWA Preseason All-American teams, as well as to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team by the league coaches. Coming off a strong shortened 2020 season where he hit .354 with four doubles and three home runs, Elko shined over the summer in the Northwoods League, earning Rawlings Big Stick Award honors as the best hitting first baseman in the league, in addition to an All-Star nod. Baseball America tabbed Elko as a breakout candidate for 2021.

CATCHER U
Just 17 games into his collegiate career, Hayden Dunhurst is already proving to be every bit the star the Rebels hoped he would be behind the dish. Dunhurst hit just under .270 as a freshman with five home runs and allowed the second-fewest stolen bases in the SEC last season. Dunhurst is No. 8 in the D1Baseball catcher rankings and was selected to the Preseason All-SEC Second Team.

STRONG AT SECOND
Peyton Chatagnier returns as the Rebels' starting second baseman after hitting .311 with four doubles and four home runs last year. He also scored the ninth-most runs in the nation as a freshman and enters the season as the No. 5 second baseman in the D1Baseball positional power rankings.