Mississippi Rebels

1. Ride Like the Wind. Ole Miss is allegedly a football school, due to the endless parade of Mannings who went there. However, they have had some success in basketball over the past several years. Though they have claimed at least a share of the SEC West division title four times since 1997, they have been to the Sweet Sixteen only once, in 2001. Their lone SEC Championship happened (as did the height of critical acclaim for Christopher Cross) in 1981, when the Rebels made a Cinderella run through the conference tournament before sailing out of March Madness in the first round. Ole Miss's most memorable tournament moment arguably (no, screw arguably—definitely) came in 1998, when Bryce Drew's last-second shot downed the Rebs in the first round.

2. People of the Book. Ole Miss is located in Oxford, and both the school and town are famous for the writers who have lived and taught there. Oxford was the hometown of William Faulkner; Yoknapatawpha County, the setting of many of his works, is based on Oxford's Lafayette County. John Grisham graduated from the law school at Ole Miss and lived in town for several years in the 1990's, which is when he first began lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills (presumably). The late Larry Brown and Willie Morris resided in Oxford. Barry Hannah is a writer-in-residence at Ole Miss and is one of many writers who currently live in Oxford. If that weren't enough, the mayor of the town is the owner of the iconic (and totally pimp) Square Books, an independent bookstore. Also, according to Wikipedia, actors Joey Lauren Adams, Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson all currently live in Oxford, where everybody knows their names.

3. Just Like Olden Days, but not really. Ole Miss sophomore guard Eniel Polynice is not, from what I can tell, related to former NBA player Olden Polynice. That probably would have made a great story, but alas. Instead, enjoy former Ole Miss football coach Ed Orgeron talking (or rather, grunting) about how much he loves getting Hummers. — David Newman