fall ball

Ole Miss started fall practice on Saturday, looking ahead — way ahead — to extending its streak of NCAA Tournament appearances to eight. Though both Mississippi State and Southern Miss have been to the College World Series in recent years, something the Rebels haven’t done since 1971, Ole Miss moved past the other two as the state’s preeminent program of the ’00 decade. State may have ruled in the ’80s and ’90s in Ron Polk’s heyday, but there has been a gradual sea change since Mike Bianco took over in Oxford. Ole Miss has been to a Super Regional four of the last five years. The Rebels had 10 players drafted last June off a team that went 44-20. They’ve had 14 drafted in the first five rounds over the last six years. Left-hander Drew Pomeranz has been pegged as the No. 11 college prospect for 2010 by Baseball America. The Rebels’ 2009 recruiting class, a key group for next spring, was ranked 18th-best by Collegiate Baseball (three notches behind rebuilding MSU). A new decade starts next spring. State has some work to do to knock Ole Miss off the mantle it once held.