Doesn't it seem like every weekend is a big series for this team? Well, this one, a three-game set against Ole Miss at Plainsman Park starting tonight, is. I wrote about it here in our newspaper. There's also this AP story out there by fellow beat writer John Zenor about Auburn and Alabama's home run prowess that's worth a read.

OK, back to Ole Miss. Why is this such a big series? Here are the standings in the SEC with nine conference games remaining. Remember, the top eight teams make the postseason conference tournament:

• 6. Alabama 12-0
• 7. Vanderbilt 10-10
• 8. South Carolina 9-12
• 9. Auburn 8-13
• 10. Kentucky 7-14

So as you can see, things are tight. A few things to remember about this upcoming series:

• Auburn is reeling, having lost seven of eight in the conference. It was swept at LSU last weekend despite being competitive in all three games, losing 7-3, 7-6 and 7-6.

• The Tigers still won't have third baseman Joe Sanders, the team leader in home runs (18) and RBIs (54). He broke his jaw last week after getting hit in the face by a pitch.

• Head coach John Pawlowski will keep his shuffled pitching rotation. That means the order is RHP Jon Luke Jacobs (3-3, 5.75) tonight, LHP Grant Dayton (2-4, 5.06) Saturday and RHP Dexter Price (3-1, 5.40) Sunday.

• Ole Miss, which has the second best ERA in conference play (4.30), will counter with LHP Drew Pomeranz (4-2, 3.49), RHP Phillip Irvin (5-3, 4.01) and RHP Scott Bittle (5-2, 2.17).

• Pawlowski called the Rebels' pitching staff one of the best top to bottom that Aubun has played this year. He's not going to overthink his lineup, either. " We're just going to put our best hitters up there," he said. "Lefty, right, whatever, and just let them find themselves."