Talk about postseason excitement. This Ole Miss softball team has this community on its feet applauding.

And now the biggest reward to the softball Rebels and the community of support: Ole Miss gets to host its first-ever softball NCAA regional tournament beginning Friday.

The field for the Oxford regional isn’t bad, either, with the likes of Arizona State and North Carolina coming to town.

But let’s get back to this Ole Miss softball team. They have been good all season, it’s just that in the highly-competitive SEC breaking from the pack in the first half of the season was difficult. But late in the year, the Rebels surged, culminating with their thrilling SEC Tournament Championship this past week.

Included among highlights in the tournament was a win over No. 1 Florida in the quarterfinals – only the Gators fifth loss of the season. And Ole Miss just stormed on to victory from there, delivering the championship on ESPN.

Now, the Rebels come home and head coach Mike Smith made a savvy prognostication after the NCAA Tournament field was announced last night.

“The community of Oxford is excited, Rebel Nation is really excited, and I think we’re going to come out in droves,” he said.

We have no doubt.