The 2024 college football season is still months away, but supporters are always excited for a sport that has changed dramatically over the last decade.
With many transfer windows and the implementation of NIL rules, college football is actually a year-round activity, even though the games are only played from August to January. Late spring and the entire summer are spent in “talking season,” in which analysts provide projections and opinions about the upcoming season, despite the fact that rosters are constantly changing thanks to the portal.
In that line, 247Sports just revealed its way-too-early bowl projections for the 2024 season, which range from the “lesser” bowls to the College Football Playoff.
Where have the Ole Miss Rebels landed? If you’re a fan of the squad from Oxford, you’re in luck: Ole Miss is expected to make the CFP, but its opponent is a surprise. You may read an excerpt of the piece below.
Projected matchup: No. 10 LSU at No. 7 Ole Miss
The SEC will be the league with the most playoff bids, but which one of that group will be the last team? Going with LSU, early. The Rebels take the field in September with the most-talented roster in program history. It’s playoff or bust in 2024 for Lane Kiffin.
“Playoff or bust” may fit the bill for Kiffin’s Rebels this season. There is no doubt that Ole Miss will field a formidable roster in 2024, if the key pieces remain healthy, and after an 11-win campaign in 2023, the expanded playoff field provides a golden opportunity for this team to make history.
Still, can you imagine if this matchup came to pass? Ole Miss and LSU are heated annual rivals in the Magnolia Bowl series, and some of the biggest games in college football history took place between these two programs in the 1950s and 60s. Remember Billy Cannon’s punt return for a touchdown? That came from this rivalry.
Granted, any SEC-on-SEC battle in the playoffs would be significant for the conference, but matching two historical rivals against each other would be must-see television with more stakes than usual. According to these estimates, Ole Miss is likely to beat LSU and go to the Peach Bowl against the Georgia Bulldogs, but it will not make it to the semifinals.
