For the 2:30 Alabama-Ole Miss Kickoff at Oxford, there is a 70% chance of rain in the hours before the game and a 55% chance of rain at kickoff. There is a 50% chance of rain in Baton Rouge today, which means that they won’t need any more rain. For the Troy-Southern Miss match, the forecast is for 70% chance of rain for most of the afternoon. This will decrease to 55% for the 6:05 p.m. kickoff. The obvious question is: Does a soggy, wet field give one team an advantage? Jackie Sherrill (Hall of Fame coach) will be in Jackson Monday night for the Jackson Touchdown Club to answer questions. Sherrill stated that if there’s a lot of rain or a wet field, the advantage goes to the stronger, stronger, and more physically fit team. Sherrill said, “It favors Alabama over Mississippi” and LSU over Mississippi State.” “I don’t know if Troy or Southern is correct, but I would guess Southern. “Officially, if it’s turf rather than real grass, it doesn’t have that same effect.” The Southern Miss Troy game will be played on turf. The other two will be played on natural grass. Sherrill confirmed that coaches can prepare differently for bad weather. Sherrill stated that we always did wet balls drills throughout the week, but we did more when rain was forecast. Wet ball drills? Sherrill replied, “Yes, you put the balls in water buckets and then you do your usual ball-handling and throwing drills.” We did it every day because you never know when there would be a storm in the South. Sherrill added that you also have extra uniforms and extra shoes. It’s amazing how much weight a player can carry when his jersey is soaked. We tried to always have extra jerseys so that we could change at halftime.” Sherrill recalls playing at Alabama in the early part of his State tenure. The rain was so heavy that Bryant-Denny’s well-maintained turf was saturated and had standing water. Sherrill stated that Gene Stallings was a Bama coach and that he had long cleats football shoes that were available for us to use during warm-ups. He said they wouldn’t wear long cleats without our consent. They were not worn by either of us.” Alabama won the game, which was bigger, stronger and more physically demanding. After Sherrill had finished his story, I said that I thought it was very sporting of Stallings that he made the offer. Sherrill confirmed that it was. I asked Sherill if he could imagine Nick Saban offering the same deal in the same situation. He laughed loudly. There are no words. *** This is my favorite rainy football story. It was 1907, when Mississippi A & M vs. the University of Mississippi. The game took place at the State Fairgrounds’ old field. According to newspaper reports, much of the field was submerged and some areas were even below the knee. No one drowned but State men won 15-0. This was partly because Frank Mason, Ole Miss coach, provided a cup of whiskey-infused coffee to warm his players. Mason answered questions about the travel plans of his team, saying that they would be leaving by train to Oxford on that night. But he wouldn’t. Mason then added, “And they hope I never again see them.” This was his final game at Ole Miss. Rick Cleveland is Mississippi Today’s sports columnist. Check out his columns in the past and his Sports Daily blog.