two weeks notice

Gather the hats and hooters: Feb. 5, a mere two weeks from today, is the start of the college season in Mississippi. Tougaloo College visits Mississippi College (and new coach Jeremy Haworth); William Carey travels to Florida to play Ave Maria University; Millsaps takes on Randolph-Macon in a tournament in Montgomery, Ala.; and Blue Mountain hosts Judson College in New Albany. Delta State plays its first game at refurbished Ferriss Field on Feb. 6, when Mike Kinnison’s Statesmen host Harding. … Belhaven, making the move from NAIA to NCAA Division III, opens on Feb. 16 at Huntingdon in Alabama. … Alcorn State will launch the Brett Richardson era on Feb. 19 in the MLB Urban Invitational in New Orleans. Richardson, a longtime Florida A&M assistant, replaced Barret Rey last summer. … The state’s Big 4 D-I schools open at home on Feb. 19: Mississippi State — which is showing up in most of the national preseason polls — against Florida Atlantic, Ole Miss vs. Florida International, Southern Miss vs. Eastern Illinois and Jackson State vs. Tennessee-Martin. Mississippi Valley State is on the road that day against Nicholls State. P.S. Also opening on Feb. 5 is Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, which will play Jackson State (Tenn.) CC in a twinbill at MGM Park in Biloxi. The Bulldogs are playing their home games at the Shuckers’ stadium this season.