WATCH: Ole Miss drops incredible hype video ahead of College World Series Final vs. Oklahoma
The College World Series championship series is here — and Ole Miss is ready to roll. Ahead of Game 1, the Rebels dropped an incredible hype video as they get ready to take on Oklahoma in the Final this weekend in Omaha.
The video features highlights from the season and an impressive narration, hinting at Ole Miss’ incredible run to the championship series, almost entirely as an underdog. On selection day, the Rebels were the last team in and went unbeaten until this week when Arkansas handed them a loss. But Ole Miss bounced back to win the game, punching its ticket to the final series.
“Faith brought you here,” the video starts. “But this ain’t the finish line.”
The best-of-three championship series between Oklahoma and Ole Miss gets underway Saturday night at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.
Mike Bianco discusses Ole Miss’ journey through NCAA Tournament as underdog
Ole Miss was the No. 1 ranked team in the country in late March. By the time the postseason rolled around, the Rebels were lucky to earn themselves an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament after being bounced from their conference tournament on the first day.
“I don’t remember a time in my 22 years, with COVID 21 years of tournament play or postseason, sitting there waiting for your name to be called on Memorial Day,” Rebels head coach Mike Bianco said. “Some years we knew because we were already a host. Some years maybe we weren’t host but we felt very comfortably in. And there’s been years like this year where we didn’t know.”
The Rebels’ downfall began in Oxford against Tennessee, who swept Ole Miss and outscored them 26-7 in a three-game span. Ole Miss would split the remainder of its 34 regular season games and finish the season with a 14-16 conference record.
“Sometimes it doesn’t go the way you want, and three times out of the 21 years we didn’t,” Bianco said. “In those years we were 14-16 [in the SEC] twice and 13-17 once. So we were right in there, right on that bubble. And it didn’t work.
“There was, I think, a very uncomfortable feeling on that day. I don’t remember ever hearing our name called on that day and seeing just joy and just the enthusiasm that I saw in the guys. They were – certainly you could use relieved, but I think maybe a better word would be excited, and since that moment – we weren’t the 64th team. I try to say that. We were a good baseball team, and I think everybody would vouch for that … we deserved to get in. You just don’t ever know. We’re really glad they let us in.”