The 2024 college football season is still about a month away, but with SEC Media Days in the rearview mirror, now is the time to begin previewing the Ole Miss Rebels’ schedule.

Ole Miss is coming off an 11-2 season that saw it capture a Peach Bowl victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions in December. The Rebels return a plethora of talent from last year’s team (including quarterback Jaxson Dart, wide receiver Tre Harris, tight end Caden Prieskron and others), but they also made a huge haul in the transfer portal to shore up some holes on its roster.

It’s this combination of talent and a seemingly-managble SEC schedule that have many believing the Rebels can qualify for the new 12-team College Football Playoff.

Over the next few days, Ole Miss OnSI will preview each of the Rebels’ 2024 regular season opponents. We last looked at the LSU Tigers, and today, we analyze the Oklahoma Sooners.

Oklahoma Sooners

Ole Miss and Oklahoma have only met once on the gridiron, and it came as the final college football game of the 20th century.

The Rebels claimed a 27-25 win over the Sooners in the 1999 Independence Bowl, but now that the two programs reside in the same conference, this meeting will be a little more frequent. Oklahoma had a strong 2023 season despite dropping back-to-back regular season games against Kansas and Oklahoma State, finishing the year 10-3 with a loss in the Alamo Bowl to Arizona.

The biggest feather in the Sooners’ hat was their 34-30 win over the Texas Longhorns in the Red River Showdown. Texas would go on to the College Football Playoff with Oklahoma marking its only regular season loss.

This years Sooner team will look a little different than last year’s, however, with the most notable change coming at quarterback. Dillon Gabriel is now an Oregon Duck, so Jackson Arnold is expected to take over under center for Oklahoma. Arnold finished the 2023 season with 563 passing yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions, and two of his touchdowns and all three picks came in Oklahoma’s bowl game loss to Arizona.

Oklahoma does return leading rusher Gavin Sawchuk (744 yards, nine TDs), and a pair of strong receivers in Nic Anderson and Andrel Anthony are also back. A big addition in the Sooners’ wideout room came in the form of Purdue’s Deion Burks who put up 629 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023.

Defensively, leading tackler Danny Stutsman (104 total tackles, 16 TFLs, three sacks) is returning to anchor the linebacker room, and safety Billy Bowman will patrol the skies once again after hauling in six interceptions last season. Oklahoma ranked 77th in total defense in 2023 among FBS schools.

This game will be an interesting one in Oxford and should provide both fan bases with a new experience. From a football perspective, this will be a critical game for the Rebels if they hope to reach the College Football Playoff as the Sooners will be a quality opponent this fall. Taking advantage of the game being at home would be huge for Ole Miss.

Kickoff in this game is scheduled for an early window on Oct. 26.

On Monday, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports published an updated NBA Power Rankings list, with the Oklahoma City Thunder coming in at No. 2. 

Helin’s ranking comes a few months after OKC finished with 57 wins, earned the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference and swept the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs. While the Thunder eventually lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the next round, Mark Daigneault’s team should be even better in 2024-25 for a variety of reasons. 

Oklahoma City was one of the youngest teams in the NBA last season and should benefit from of internal development over the offseason. Players like Cason Wallace, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and others still have plenty of room left to improve after the 2023-24 campaign and should perform even better with another offseason of work. 

Additionally, OKC had almost no playoff experience entering the postseason in 2024, which ended up coming back to haunt the Thunder during its series against Dallas. 

Now, the team has played in a hard-fought playoff series and will be better prepared for their matchups in the 2025 postseason.

The biggest differences for Oklahoma City heading into the new season, however, is the team’s roster additions. After a lackluster third year in the Modern Frontier, former No. 6 overall pick Josh Giddey was traded to the Chicago Bulls in return for standout wing Alex Caruso. 

Caruso averaged a career-high 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.7 steals and one block per game in 2023-24, earning NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors. While the 2020 NBA champion is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA, he has also developed into a reliable 3-point shooter. 

Last season, Caruso shot 40.8% from beyond the arc on 4.7 3-point attempts per game, which should make him a perfect fit for Daigneault’s system. 

Alongside Caruso, the Thunder also added free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein over the summer. 

Listed at 7-feet tall and 250 pounds, Hartenstein adds size and rebounding prowess that Oklahoma City was lacking on its 2023-24 squad. Hartenstein averaged 7.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game with the New York Knicks last year, serving as one of the best role players in the NBA.

With the addition of two talented defenders and passers who also bring other skills to Daigneault’s team, the Thunder should be even better than they were in 2023-24. 

The Dallas Mavericks, who also made a few solid offseason additions, came in at No. 3 on NBC Sports’ list.

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

Edna’s, a longstanding fixture in Oklahoma City’s bar scene, the origin point for a beloved signature cocktail and a local watering hole for both residents and their visiting friends and family is one of 27 bars included on the 2024 USA TODAY Bars of the Year list. 

The list was created by USA TODAY Network food writers across the country and includes everything from humble dives to high-end cocktail bars. 

“It’s pretty crazy and quite an honor,” said Tammy Lucas, owner of Edna’s and daughter of the bar’s originator and namesake Edna Scott. “My mom just built such a legacy there. That place has a life of its own. It’s bigger than us. She’s just always there with her hands on everything and we’re just blessed.”

What makes Edna’s stand out

Edna’s has been offering up Lunchboxes and love to the community since the day Scott opened the doors 35 years ago. Today, Edna’s is owned by Lucas, who’s own children are also involved in the day-to-day running and management of the bar.

“It’s always going to be a family business,” said manager Kate Kezpers, who is Lucas’ daughter-in-law. “There aren’t as many these days. A lot of things have gone corporate, and I like that it’s still within the family and that it continues that legacy that Edna built.”

Edna’s is perhaps best known for the Lunchbox, created, in fact, by accident when Edna mixed a shot of amaretto with Coors Light and orange juice. The blunder became a menu staple that has grown into a full list of variations available at the bar, including secret off-menu options.

“We’ve now developed many flavors of Lunchboxes. … Try the original first because that’s the one that’s been around for 30 years. That’s the classic one, and then all of the other ones are just based off of that,” Kezpers said. “If you get the right person at the right time, you might just learn a secret one. We have a little Lunchbox bible behind the bar with all of them in it.”

What to know about Edna’s — beyond the Lunchbox

Edna’s also offers up a selection of tasty bar snacks — wings, chicken fingers, loaded fries, fried green beans and more — to satisfy the cravings that often come with a trip to the bar.

The most well-known visual feature at Edna’s is the hundreds, possibly thousands, of dollar bills lining the walls, ceiling and even a few epoxy-resined tables throughout the bar at this point.

There is an unspoken understanding amongst guests that the dollar bills stay on the walls and are not to be disturbed and any guest who comes into the bar can decorate a bill of their own and add it to the wall. There are some less cluttered places in need of decoration in the newly expanded and renovated area of the bar that was added during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That expansion also gave new life to the patio, which gained additional square footage for added seating and games. Patrons can play cornhole or oversized Connect Four on the patio during the bar’s regular hours. But don’t be surprised if seating is limited on nights and weekends when Edna’s gets busy and stays that way.

‘We’re just blessed’

Kezpers said you also shouldn’t be surprised if, on your first visit, a regular offers to buy your first Lunchbox, a common occurrence at Edna’s she’s seen too many times to count.

“I think the Lunchbox is a big part of it, but I also think we have a good community here. I think everyone that comes in is just instantly welcomed by the staff or the other people in the bar,” Kezpers said.

With three and a half decades under its belt, a committed family running it, strong community support and daily hours from noon until 2 a.m. Edna’s does not appear to be going anywhere.

“All I ever wanted to do, and my family, too, is just honor [my mom] and what she’s done and brought to Oklahoma City and how she wants people to be treated,” Lucas said. “You know we’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re hanging in there and we’re just blessed.”

Edna’s in Oklahoma City

Details: 5137 N Classen Circle, Oklahoma City, Ok.; 405-840-3339, ednasokc.com.