Every time I watch the Ole Miss Rebels play, the Dixie Chicks’ “Ready To Run” keeps popping into my head. That, and Nolan Richardson’s “40 Minutes of Hell.” No, that’s not another song reference -- it’s a style of play the Arkansas men’s basketball team popularized from the mid-1980s to the mid-90s and a style the Rebs seem intent on bringing back to the SEC. Are they successful with it? Just ask TCU, Maryland and Oklahoma -- they were all run out of the 2007 NCAA tournament by Ole Miss.

When Carol Ross came back to her alma mater to coach, she inherited a team that was talented on the court but only average in their conditioning. Enter Darren Edgington. You may not know who he is, but you’ve been watching his handiwork highlighted every time Ole Miss takes the court. Edgington is the strength and conditioning coach for the Rebels and deserves almost as much credit for this team’s success as Ross does. Edgington, an MTSU graduate and Navy veteran who spent six years as a submariner, is all about discipline and effort. In his two years working with the team he has improved their conditioning to the point they are still sprinting up and down the court late in the game when other teams are bent over grabbing their shorts and gasping for breath. Oklahoma star center Courtney Paris summed it up best after her #3 seed team fell in the Sweet Sixteen: “When we started off we were playing at a super-fast speed -- faster than we like to play," Paris said. "If I wanted to play that fast, I would have gone to Mississippi." And just think: Ole Miss was able to stick with their frenetic pace despite playing in 90 degree heat.

This fact was not lost on UT. After completing their pounding of Marist in the first regional semifinal in Dayton, the Lady Vols hustled back out so they could get another look at their opponent in the Elite Eight. Coach Pat Summitt said they could have watched the game back at the hotel, but seeing it in person is even more impressive. “On TV, it doesn’t look like they’re that much faster and quicker and more aggressive. But when you see them actually play - we saw them against Oklahoma - it was glaring. Their overall team speed and quickness and their ability to get up and down the floor on both sides of the ball, it was very, very impressive," Summitt said.

Summitt also remarked that Ole Miss is not the same team the Lady Vols defeated 81-69 little more than a month ago. In that game, Armintie Price got in early foul trouble and had to ride the bench for an extended period. Look for Price to make every effort to play every minute in their next game. After all, she’s a senior who is ready to run all the way to the Final Four.

Quick Facts:

-This is Ole Miss’ first trip to the Elite Eight since 1992 and first trip under Ross
-Ross is 1-19 against Summitt, including her tenure at the helm of Florida
-Summitt’s Vols are 13-2 against SEC teams when facing them in the NCAAs
-The Vols last loss to an SEC team in the NCAAs was to Ole Miss in 1985 by a score of 63-60
-UT has been in each of the 26 NCAA tournaments
-UT has advanced to the Elite Eight in 22 of the 26 NCAA tournaments

Ole Miss faces off against UT in the Dayton regional final on Tuesday night, March 27. The game will be televised at 7 PM on ESPN.