Notes, quotes and an opinion or two…

Let’s get right to it: Archie Manning does not have terminal brain cancer as has been posted on social media several times in recent days.

I pretty much knew that, but checked in by phone, just to make sure.

“My back hurts,” Archie told me. “Can’t seem to get much relief. But, no, I don’t have brain cancer that I know of.”

And, “No,” he answered, he hasn’t publicly criticized Donald Trump as a “self-serving showman.” The same deceitful Facebook account has posted that and many other falsehoods concerning the Manning family.

Archie doesn’t do Facebook, but he and his family hear constantly about such folderol from people who care about them. Indeed, the posts about the retired quarterback’s “brain cancer” have generated hundreds of comments from grieving fans promising fervent prayers.

“What can I do?” Archie asked.

The answer, apparently, is nothing. The fact is, we live in an age of unprecedented misinformation, much of it coming from social media platforms where it is estimated that up to 50% or more of the content is bot- or AI-generated. We’d probably all be better to cut the cord.

QB eligibility case in court

As predicted three weeks ago, the college football eligibility of Trinidad Chambliss will be determined in a north Mississippi chancery court. The NCAA on Wednesday turned down Chambliss’ waiver appeal for another season of eligibility, leaving the judicial system as his lone hope to continue his college career.

And so whether or not Chambliss plays another season at Ole Miss will be decided in a hearing in Calhoun County Chancery Court next Thursday in Pittsboro. There will be no jury. Judge Robert Q. Whitwell, who has the reputation of being a fair, seasoned and impartial jurist, will both preside and decide.

Millions of dollars are at stake in Trinidad Chambliss versus the NCAA, in which Chambliss and his attorneys ask the court for a temporary restraining order against the NCAA. If granted, the TRO likely would allow Chambliss to play for Ole Miss in 2026.

Whitwell attended both Mississippi State and Northwest Mississippi Community College before graduating from Delta State. His law degree is from Ole Miss. He knows sports. At Northwest, he was a standout quarterback and team captain who led the Rangers to a state championship.

Chambliss and his lawyers contend the NCAA unfairly denied his request for a sixth year of eligibility due to medical issues they say caused him to miss the 2022 season. The NCAA counters that those medical issues, upper respiratory in nature, were not properly documented and that denying his appeal has not caused Chambliss irreparable harm. Quoting directly from the NCAA’s 27-page response to Chambliss’s appeal, the group further says “the administration of collegiate sports requires the sound application of well-established rules carefully applied by experienced NCAA staff … to make such eligibility determinations. Collegiate sports will become ungovernable if eligibility determinations are instead the result of individual court decisions.”

A cynic might argue that in recent years the NCAA has done such a lousy job of governing collegiate sports that said sports already have become ungovernable.

The NCAA’s legal response was authored by highly regarded Atlanta-based lawyer Douglas Minor, formerly of Jackson, who grew up in Oxford, graduated at Oxford High School, got his undergraduate degree at Harvard and his law degree at Georgetown.

Chambliss is represented by northwest Arkansas-based Tom Mars, a nationally recognized college sports advocate, and Mississippi attorney William Liston III, founder and general counsel for The Grove Collective, which supports Ole Miss athletes.

Chambliss has reportedly agreed to a contract in the neighborhood of $5 million at Ole Miss. Should he be allowed to play at there again, Chambliss would return as a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. Seems almost surreal his eligibility will be determined in a chancery court room in a town of about 200 in rural north Mississippi.

Beard takes Ole Miss to his old home court in Texas

It will be interesting to see what kind of welcome Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard will receive his first appearance Saturday at the University of Texas Moody Center since he lost his job there in January of 2023. The Rebels (11-11, 3-6) play the Longhorns (14-9, 5-5). Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN2. My guess is Beard will be booed, although he was extremely popular in Austin before his dismissal.

Beard’s Rebels defeated the Longhorns 72-69 in Oxford last season, but that was an Ole Miss team that eventually reached the Sweet 16. Sean Pedulla led the Rebels to a comeback victory with 19 points. You ask me the biggest difference in these Rebels and last season’s is the graduation of Pedulla, who not only was the Rebels’ best clutch scorer but also a “glue player” who made everyone around him better. When Ole Miss really needed a bucket, he was money.

When there was a loose ball, he was most often the one to get it. Pedulla currently averages 13.6 points and three assists per game for the Rip City Remix, the Portland Trailblazers’ G-League team.

Meanwhile, Mississippi State (11-11, 3-6) seeks consistency Saturday (11 a.m., ESPN) against the No. 21 Arkansas (16-6, 6-3) in Starkville.

Ole Miss and State, with identical records, are tied for 12th in the SEC and need to get hot quickly for any chance at the post-season.

The same is true of Southern Miss (12-13,6-7), which begins a four-game homestead Saturday against Kent State (2 p.m.).

Correction, 2/6/2026: This story has been updated to show that the hearing over Trinidad Chambliss’ eligibility is in chancery court.