CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah called Ole Miss’s 2024 season a failure after the Rebels lost to Florida and Kentucky and didn’t make the College Football Playoff with a “manageable schedule.”
“The Rebels invested a tremendous amount of money into their roster in hopes of competing with the best. After beating Georgia by three scores, Ole Miss had a red carpet to the College Football Playoff if it could simply avoid tripping over its own feet. Unfortunately, that proved to be too tall an order. Florida shocked Ole Miss 24-17 to hand the Rebels their third loss and essentially eliminate them from College Football Playoff contention. Ole Miss turned the ball over three times, including a game-sealing interception from quarterback Jaxson Dart,” Jeyarajah wrote.
“With the logjam of two-loss teams across college football, it’s highly unlikely Ole Miss’s resume will warrant an at-large CFP bid. Ole Miss had a manageable schedule and one of the most compelling playoff cases in America coming into the year. After dropping against both Florida and Kentucky, it’s hard to view this season as anything but a failure.”
No one would’ve ever said such a statement under Hugh Freeze. The postseason wasn’t even on anyone’s mind during the Matt Luke years. Kiffin has elevated this program to new heights; like being deemed a failure when the Rebels aren’t in the College Football Playoff.
With a 12-team field, those expectations are deserved, too. Ole Miss has been in a New Year’s Six bowl two of the last three years and would’ve been part of a 12-team field had it existed during those years.
While the Rebels failed to make the CFP in a year where it was seemingly gift-wrapped to them, not having to face Alabama and having one of the easier schedules in the conference, it’s clear Kiffin has succeeded in making Ole Miss good enough to be disappointing with an eight or nine-win season.
