If you hang around the sporting world long enough, you learn not to force comparisons.
Every team has its own personality, its own flaws, its own weird mid‑April weekend that makes you question everything. But when Ole Miss arrived in Omaha this week, the comparison was unavoidable: does this group feel anything like the 2022 team that won the whole thing?
Hunter Elliott is the only person in the clubhouse who can actually answer that. And even he admits the memories feel a little distant.
“I feel like you forget a little bit about it,” he said. “It’s been a while. I’ve been through some ups and downs since then. It feels like ages ago almost that we were here.”
But then he smiled. Because walking back onto that field brought it all rushing back — the good, the improbable, the run that still doesn’t make sense on paper.
“It was just good,” he said. “A lot of excitement to be back. I really love this group of guys. I’m really happy for everybody that’s getting to experience it.”
That’s where the comparison starts. Not with the stats or the lineups or the pitching roles. With the people.
Elliott didn’t give a big speech to the team about what it takes to win in Omaha. That’s not his style. But when guys asked, he kept the message simple: don’t turn into something you’re not.
“Having success here is about doing what we did in Lincoln, doing what we did in Auburn and winning the big parts of the game,” he said. “Sometimes people come here and aren’t the same, because they try to play a little different. It’s a bigger stage or whatever. But it’s doing what we’ve done all year. That’s why we’re here.”
That’s the biggest difference between 2022 and 2026.
The 2022 team didn’t know if it would even be here. They were the last team in, the group that spent a month trying to dig out of 7‑14 in the SEC. They didn’t tighten up because they couldn’t afford to. They were playing with house money.
This year’s team didn’t have that same existential crisis. They knew they were going to be in the postseason. They didn’t have the No. 1 ranking early like the 2022 group, but they also didn’t have the freefall. What they had was a brutal schedule, 10 straight weeks of it, and a roster that had to grow up in real time.
Mike Bianco sees the contrast clearly.
“That team was the proverbial last team in,” he said. “This team knew it was going to the postseason all along.”
But he also sees the overlap, the part that matters more than the résumés.
“The similarities are the leadership, the oldness, the veteran presence, how much they cared about one another and how much fun they have with one another,” Bianco said. “That was a neat team to be around… and this one is the same.”
Elliott echoed it. He said the biggest similarity isn’t anything that shows up in a box score.
“This group has stuck together,” he said. “We have a lot of experience, good and bad. The main thing is this group really loves to be together.”
He wasn’t exaggerating. He talked about bus rides like they were the highlight of the postseason. Not the wins. Not the celebrations. The bus rides.
“We like the bus rides because we get to spend time with our teammates,” he said. “We don’t want to play the last game together.”
CWS Threads 🧵 pic.twitter.com/lTplGnYLAD
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) June 12, 2026
That’s the part that sounds familiar. That’s the part that feels like 2022.
Back then, the leaders were Elko, Bench and Graham. Now it’s Utermark, Elliott and Furniss. Different names, same dynamic. A team that genuinely enjoys being around each other. A team that doesn’t splinter when things get tight. A team that plays for the guy next to them.
The 2022 team needed a miracle just to get into the tournament. The 2026 team didn’t. But once you strip away the circumstances, the core looks pretty similar.
A veteran group. A close group. A group that’s been hardened by adversity, even if the adversity looked different this time around.
And a group that, once again, has found its way to Omaha with a chance to write its own ending.
