How about them Dogs and Tigers! Mississippi State marched through its homefield NCAA Regional last week, while LSU was doing the same at its hosted Regional. There was dancing in the streets in Starkville and Baton Rouge with Super Regionals awaiting both teams.

Then there’s the biggest plum of all if things work out for the Bulldogs and Tigers. That’s a great big &uot;if,&uot; of course, as competition rises a big notch next stop.

This year’s college World Series, which will be played at Omaha, Neb., its usual famous site where LSU won a year or two ago, starts June 9.

Talkin’ about competition in the best-of-three Super Regionals, LSU is tough all over, as we all know. But so is Mississippi State, probably the strongest unseeded ball club in all the Regionals. Watch the Dogs beat Clemson and probably carry more fans there than Clemson will have. State does draw in baseball!

The Bertman Bengals have the UCLA Bruins at Alex Box Stadium, and chances are LSU will prevail, the way I see it.

Coach Skip Bertman’s sizzling LSU Tigers took care of the work at hand down in Tigerland a little quicker last week than did Bulldog coach Pat McMahon and his hanging-tough charges on their home turf. But take care of things the Bullies did, shading Notre Dame 10-9 at crunch time – THE game of the tournament for State, which had fallen to the Irish 7-0 in their first game.

It’s well-known what the Tigers did in their Regional. First they wallopped Jackson State 19-1, then Louisiana-Monroe even moreso, 21-0, before easing past Louisiana-Monroe once again, 5-3.

Only time will tell whether 41-17 MSU gets past 48-16 Clemson in its Super Regionals opener that runs June 2-4, or whether 46-17 LSU can make it past 38-24 UCLA.

At any rate, proud Southeastern Conference baseball fans will meantime be pounding their chests in anticipation of even better things happening.

4 The David Cutcliffe-Ole Miss era has fully begun up in Oxford. And I know it’s not football season yet, but I’m not the only one with the itch already. I can’t wait until I can start yakking about Mississippi State, Southern Mississippi, LSU, Arkansas and even Delta State, etc.

Ole Miss will supposedly &uot;warm up&uot; with Tulane Sept. 2 in Oxford, but one smart cat remarked to me that Auburn will then &uot;warm up against Ole Miss Sept. 9.&uot; Gotta admit, it could very well happen. SEC football – it’s the greatest. Then Conference-USA, the way Mississippi fans look at it. Pretty good all right.

Deuce McAllister is not only the rage among Rebel fans, but the man most feared by opponents as everyone looks to September and college football 2000. McAllister is a hoss, all right enough, but opponents will be loading up in key defensive places just for him.

Deuce stands 6-1 and weighs 220. He’s a senior and can fly around or through defenders. It’s no wonder that he’s one of the pre-season favorites for the coveted Heisman Trophy. Coach Cutcliffe would just as soon have not so much made of has wares this early, but having a star has its &uot;drawbacks.&uot;

Seven starters return on offense for OM, six on defense and three specialists. Big among the &uot;lucky 13&uot; is quarterback Romaro Miller, a hefty senior (6-1, 195) who just might be spelled now and then by Eli Manning, Archie’s redshirt freshamn son, a favorite with Miller same as with everyone else.

The Rebels were 7-4 last season, finishing 4-4, though, in the SEC. Flexing their muscles all along, the Rebs took Auburn, South Carolina, LSU and Arkansas in the conference, but fell to Vandy, Alabama, Georgia and MSU.