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Welcome to the Friday Chat.

"Finish" has been the theme for Ole Miss football this week, and we're going to finish the work week with our regular chime-in-at-your-own-pace discussion of all things Ole Miss athletics.

I'll be checking the thread throughout the day while I take care of domestic responsibilities before leaving for Auburn this evening.

Summing up the week here.

There have been Pete Boone resignation rumors for most of this football season, and those seem to hit a different pitch Wednesday. Later in the day Pete told me by text there was "not a bit" of truth to those rumors. ...

On Monday Houston Nutt talked about the need for the Rebels to "finish." He wants the Rebels to play better in the third and fourth quarters. Ole Miss has been outscored 47-0 in those two quarters for the last two games. Through the first five games they didn't lead in that category but were only outscored 30-21 over the same time frame.

The Alabama game, in my opinion, was about a difference in talent, a belief by the players that once the Tide took that third-quarter kick and made it a 24-7 game that they weren't about to mount a comeback against that defense.

Focus for the Arkansas game seem to center on adjustments made by Arkansas at halftime and the unsuccessful counterpunch by Ole Miss.

Love to hear some other theories on the third quarter blues.

Whatever the reason, Nutt seems adamant that Ole Miss will play better in the third quarter Saturday night at Auburn. We'll see. ...

On to basketball. I wasn't sure if I was listening to Terrance Henry or Joe Namath yesterday. Henry gave us a prediction similar to Namath's promise that the Jets would beat the Colts in Super Bowl III when he guaranteed an NCAA tournament berth for the Rebels this year.

It's been a long time for Ole Miss, which hasn't been to the big tournament since 2002. That's the longest drought in the SEC.

Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy believes Henry is poised for a big year, perhaps an All-SEC type year. If Henry puts up those type numbers, and the other talent - particularly the return of Murphy Holloway - is as good as advertised, I'll give the Rebels a shot to be in the conversation in the end and maybe get over the hump.

It hasn't been a slow news week.

Leave your comments and observations below, questions if you have them.