Aug. 28, 2008

• Gameday Central

MEMPHIS, TENN. - The University of Memphis Tiger football team will make the short drive to Oxford, Miss., Saturday to take on the Ole Miss Rebels in both teams' season opener at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.

The game is not being televised live, but a replay of the game will be carried on CSS Sunday, Aug. 31, at 1 p.m. CT. The audio feed of the Tiger Radio Network broadcast with Dave Woloshin and Bob Rush will be streamed on Memphis' official website, www.GoTigersGo.com, through the Tigers All-Access subscription service.

Saturday's Labor Day weekend encounter between the two Mid-South rivals will be the 58th all-time meeting. The Rebels lead the series 45-10-2, and also hold a commanding 17-2 advantage in games played in Oxford. Last year, Ole Miss posted a hard-fought, season-opening 23-21 win over the Tigers at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The last meeting in Oxford came in the 2006 campaign, and the Rebels took a narrow 28-25 victory over the Tigers.

The last Tiger victory in the series -- and also the last Memphis win in Oxford -- was a 20-13 win in the 2004 season opener at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium/Hollingsworth Field.

Did You Know?
The Labor Day weekend Mid-South encounter is the 31st time Memphis opens a campaign against Ole Miss. In fact, five of the Tigers' 10 victories in the series came when Memphis faced the Rebels in the season opener. Those victories came in 2004 (20-13), 1987 (16-10), 1983 (37-17), 1976 (21-16) and 1967 (27-17).

The first time the two schools met in a season opener was the 1921 campaign. The Rebels won that contest 82-0 on Oct. 1, 1921.

The most consecutive years Memphis opened a season playing Ole Miss was seven-straight years from 1964-70. Saturday's encounter is the fifth-consecutive year the Mid-South rivals face-off on college football's opening weekend.

On the other side, Ole Miss has opened a season playing the Tigers 36 times in its history (Aug. 30 game is the 37th time).

West vs. Newbies
Memphis head coach Tommy West is 8-2 against opposing coaches in their first year at their respective programs, since taking over the Tigers in 2001. This season, he is facing new head coaches at Ole Miss, Southern Miss and SMU. Below is a chart detailing West's games versus new head coaches.

Year	Team (Coach), Result
2007	Rice (Bailiff), W
	Tulane (Toledo), W
	UAB (Callaway), W
2006	N/A
2005	Ole Miss (Oregeron), L
	East Carolina (Holtz), W
	Marshall (Snyder), W
2004	Cincinnati (Dantonio), L
2003	Houston (Briles), W
	East Carolina (Thompson), W
	Louisville (Petrino), W
2002	N/A

Close Calls
Recent meetings between the two Mid-South schools have been close, and in turn, the rivalry has grown even more heated. The last five meetings have been decided by 10 or fewer points, and the average margin of victory in those contests was 5.2 points.

The last time the Memphis and Ole Miss had a longer series of games decided by 10 or fewer points was from 1972-79. The average margin of victory in that seven-game span was 5.3 points.

A Win Is A Win Is A Win
Memphis has won 10 games in the series against Ole Miss, but the victories have been close calls.

In the 10 wins, the Tiger margin of victory has been 8.7 points per win. Of the 10 victories, six have been less than double figures. The Tigers' largest margin of victory was 20 points (37-17) in the 1983 season opener.

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