Ole Miss is keeping its preseason practice schedule nearly identical despite a recent change that allows college football teams to start fall camp earlier.

The Rebels will open camp Aug. 2 and will have 29 practices before their Sept. 2 season opener against South Alabama at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (6:30 p.m., ESPNU).

Teams have the option of holding their first practice a week earlier than usual after the NCAA’s Division I Council voted in April to do away with two-a-days in order to get that number of practices in, but Ole Miss isn’t straying too far from its schedule of recent years.

Ole Miss began fall camp on Aug. 3 in 2014, Aug. 5 in 2015 and Aug. 8 last year.

Mississippi State, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Auburn and LSU are SEC teams that are scheduled to open camp later this month.