Expectations have never been higher in Oxford. Before this heavily-anticipated season begins, let's take a look at some storylines for some upcoming matchups.
Jared Redding
The 2024 season is one that this Ole Miss football program and its fans have been waiting for. Now more than ever, the Rebels have their best shot to legitimately compete for an SEC Championship, make the recently expanded College Football Playoff and perhaps play for all the marbles if all goes to plan.
The process of getting there will look much different this time around, however. Should Ole Miss be among the 12 teams to make the CFP, they could perhaps host a postseason matchup inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium per the new format. Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter spoke to Inside the Rebels in a recent exclusive interview about what a home CFP matchup would look like from a logistical standpoint. It's clear to them that this is expectation a few months from now.
Before then, there will be some matchups with some interesting storylines attached to them. However, let's get the obvious overall storyline out of the way. Ole Miss has never had the high expectations it has now.
Dubbed as the "Last Dance" by those within the program, Ole Miss returns a massive chunk of production and leadership from last season's historic 11-2 campaign, one in which the Rebels set the program record for wins in a season, broke home attendance records and won a New Year's Six Bowl matchup against a top-10 Penn State program in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Since then, Lane Kiffin, dubbed the Portal King, has brought in the No. 1 ranked transfer portal class at the time of writing and will soon have all members of one of his best high school/JUCO signing classes come when fall rolls around. Some have already hit the ground running.
The 2024 schedule has been considered by many as fairly manageable, but it's about going 1-0 at the end of the day. Without further ado, let's take a look at some early storylines within the season, before these games kick off.
Georgia, enough said
Ole Miss went into Athens last season (No. 9 in CFP rankings at the time) to face the back-to-back defending national champions, who were riding the nation's longest winning streak at the time. Had Ole Miss won and then won out, the Rebels might've had a case to make the last four-team playoff. However, it was not meant to be.
From the opening drive, the storyline was set. The Bulldogs were simply bigger, faster and stronger than Ole Miss is just about every way. Georgia had way more depth too, and it showed. Georgia won all three phases of the game and defended its home field with a dominant 52-17 victory, snuffing out any hope the Rebels had of competing for a national championship.
When Kiffin was asked afterwards about how to compete with these blue-blood programs, the answer was simple. Ole Miss just had to get better players and invest in them like there's no tomorrow. Fast forward to now, and here we are. Ole Miss did just that.
The Bulldogs will come to Oxford in November, and one can assume that everyone in the Manning Center has this matchup marked in red on the calendar. Ironically, this matchup is right around the exact time period the Rebels took their beating last year. Georgia has reloaded once again and considered by some to be the SEC favorite. Ole Miss is expected by many to either be undefeated or still is position with one loss going into this heavily-anticipated game. This will have massive CFP implications.
Expect a much different Ole Miss team this time around. Simply put, why not Ole Miss?
Egg Bowl statement to be made
The Egg Bowl has often been one of those rivalries where if one team went0-11, getting the Golden Egg makes things feel pretty sweet, albeit for a brief period of time. It means that much to the people in this state.
Ole Miss definitely has bigger fish to fry now, but being state champs will most definitely be on the checklist. After all, a loss would likely shatter their championship aspirations.
Over the last couple months, the trajectories of both programs have been considered by many to be complete opposite of each other. Ole Miss has been viewed as an SEC and national championship contender, while Mississippi State had been viewed as a program that will likely have to scrap, claw and fight just to be bowl eligible next season. Although Jeff Lebby is an outstanding offensive mind and coach for that matter, he's walking into a tough situation in Starkville. There are far more question marks than answers at this point in time.
All of this comparison aside, people on both sides know that all bets are off in this game. Records have often been meaningless. It's really about who wants it more.
Because of this, the Egg Bowl has been about even over the last two decades. Since Kiffin took over Ole Miss, he is 3-1 against his in-state rival. This year, Ole Miss has a chance to do something that hasn't been done in a very long time, win four Egg Bowls in five seasons. The last time Ole Miss has done that was from 2002-2006, losing only the 2005 matchup.
Look for the Rebels to try and make a clear statement come November, making clear who runs the 'Sip.
Welcome to the SEC, brother
Due to all the recent chaos in college football regarding conference realignment, all members of the SEC, including Ole Miss, will welcome Oklahoma and Texas to the sport's premier conference.
Because of that, there will be no more SEC East and West divisions. For the first time in what seems to be an age, Ole Miss will no longer face Alabama, Auburn or Vanderbilt this coming season. That might take some time to get used to. But, all members of the current SEC fraternity will play one of the newbies. In Ole Miss' case, that will be Oklahoma.
The Sooners are expected by many to be a top-15 or top-20 team next season. That program almost always has a future pro or two on the roster. However, they'll be walking into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, a place Ole Miss has won 21 of the last 23 games inside. Rebel safety Key Lawrence will get to play his former school too.
Regardless of Ole Miss being potentially favored in this one for a variety of reasons, Oklahoma is no slouch. Expect this to be one of Ole Miss' toughest matchups of the 2024 season, come Oct. 26. A lot can happen before then, however.
An opportunity to exercise road demons
How many times over the last century has Ole Miss had championship aspirations or an undefeated record ruined by LSU... in Baton Rouge?
That was the case most recently in 2022, where the Rebels walked into Death Valley with a 7-0 record only to be pummeled in the SEC half and allowing LSU fans to storm the field in celebration. Ole Miss proceeded to lose four of the next five games and finish with a disappointing 8-5 record. Believe it or not, Ole Miss has not won in Death Valley since 2008. For reference there have been three different Ole Miss head coaches since then.
LSU is expected to be strong per usual under Brian Kelly, but so is Ole Miss for reasons we've already established. In 2024, Ole Miss will head to Baton Rouge looking to snap the road drought on Oct. 12.
Speaking of road demons, the last time Ole Miss won a matchup in Fayetteville, Ark. also happened to be in 2008. While Ole Miss has beaten the Hogs a couple times in Little Rock, it's been a while since a D.W. Reynolds Stadium victory. For whatever reason, the Rebels have just struggled there, whether it be too many turnovers or lack of fight.
This isn't 2009. Not even close.
This was highlighted more in a previous Inside the Rebels story, but it's still relevant to the subject matter.
Ole Miss will likely begin the 2024 season *officially* in the top-10, possibly even top-5, who knows. The last time Ole Miss began the season as a preseason top-10 was 15 years ago, for a team that ultimately finished 9-4 and a second consecutive Cotton Bowl victory.
All the hype and buzz surrounding that team was basically blown up by week three, after a brutal road trip to South Carolina. The Gameco*cks earned one of the program's most significant victories with a 16-10 final. Ole Miss will get to avenge said loss this season on Oct. 5, in that same stadium in Columbia.
That said, times have changed drastically since then. Although that 2009 Ole Miss team had some future NFL talent on it and were definitely fun to watch, the talent across the board this time around makes the preseason hype much-more warranted. With all the talent that's on this year's squad, a 9-4 season would be considered a failure, and not a mere consolation prize. As mentioned before, it's CFP or bust.
This year's Rebels will open up this heavily-anticipated 2024 season inside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium against Furman on Saturday, Aug. 31.
