OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss fans will not only be celebrating Eli Manning-Patrick Willis Day as part of Grove Bowl 2008 but will also be benefiting the M-Club’s scholarship fund. 

On Saturday, the Grove Bowl features head coach Houston Nutt’s Rebel football team in its annual spring intrasquad scrimmage in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Tickets, at $10 each, are available through the athletics ticket office on All-American Drive, next to the Starnes Athletic Center. Call 662-915-7167 or visit the ticket office 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On gameday, tickets are available in the Grove and at the ticket office. All proceeds benefit the M-Club's J.W. "Wobble" Davidson Scholarship Fund.

Tailgating starts at 10 a.m. in the Grove with children's games.  A commemorative Manning-Willis poster and Grove Bowl t-shirts can be purchased as well as catfish, barbecue and chicken tenders. 

At 10:45 a.m., both Manning and Willis will lead the march as Rebel football players and coaches tread the traditional Walk of Champions as they head to Vaught-Hemingway. Stadium gates open at noon and kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

Other events of the weekend include a match against in-state rival Mississippi State for the Ole Miss tennis team, a three-game baseball series between the Rebels and the LSU Tigers and the Ole Miss Invitational track and field meet.

The seventh-ranked Rebel tennis team is kicking off Grove Bowl weekend Saturday at 11 a.m., against the Bulldogs, and all fans will receive complimentary hot dogs and other refreshments courtesy of Kroger and Rebel Sports Marketing. Admission to the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center is free.

The Ole Miss baseball squad will host LSU Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The Rebels are currently ranked 18th in the nation and leading the SEC Western Division. Click here or call 662-915-7167 for ticket info.

The track meet is Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. at the Ole Miss Track and Field Complex on Hill Drive and is expected to run until approximately 6 p.m. The Rebels will be facing individuals from UAB, Memphis, Mississippi State, Notre Dame and Tulane. Tickets at the track stadium will be $5 for adults and $3 for high school age and under.

In addition, the 19th annual Chucky Mullins Courage Award Banquet will be held Friday at 6:30 p.m. at the Indoor Practice Facility. The award is given annually to a rising senior defensive player who will have the honor of wearing a “38” patch on his jersey during his senior campaign. Mullins wore No. 38 as a player at Ole Miss. 

Attendees to this year’s banquet, which is open to all students, alumni and public, will have the chance to hear Coach Nutt speak, see excerpts of the documentary film, "Undefeated: The Chucky Mullins Story" and meet the Ole Miss football team and coaches. Tickets are $20 and are available online by clicking here, in Room 331 of the Martindale Center or in the Student Union lobby next to the information booth.

The Chucky Mullins Courage Award Banquet is sponsored each year by Phi Beta Sigma and Phi Kappa Psi fraternities, and proceeds assist Ole Miss students involved in serious accidents. For more information, call 662-915-7404.

Free parking for Saturday's football game is available in the lot on the west side of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. The lot adjacent to the Starnes Center is reserved for handicapped parking. Lots adjacent to the Track and Field Complex and the Indoor Practice Facility will be closed. Officials suggest that fans attending the track meet park in the nearby Mississippi Department of Transportation parking lot at the intersection of Highway 6 and Old Taylor Road.

Davidson, a three-sport star at Ole Miss and assistant football coach for 22 seasons under John Vaught, died in 1998 at the age 79. As an assistant in 1945-68, he helped coach the Rebels to 16 bowl games and six Southeastern Conference championships. He also spent 11 years as head men's tennis coach and was adviser to the M-Club for 23 years.

The fund bearing his name awards scholarships to the children of former Ole Miss letterwinners.

The Ole Miss M-Club is an honor organization for men and women who have earned a varsity letter in an NCAA-sanctioned sport sponsored by the university and have participated in a formal induction ceremony.      

For more information about Grove Bowl events or for assistance related to a disability, call the Ole Miss Alumni Affairs office at 662-915-7375.