Ole Miss Rebels Land in New Year's 6 in New Bowl Projection
The Ole Miss Rebels finished the regular season at 10-2 for just the second time in program history following their win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Thanksgiving, but how does this affect their bowl placement?
Well...the jury is still out.
In short, Ole Miss is on the fringes of the New Year's Six field, depending what the College Football Playoff committee decides to do between now and Dec. 3 (along with how the conference championships sort out).
One bowl projection from On3 has the Rebels (for now) in the New Year's Six field, opting to take the Rebels over the Missouri Tigers. Another, one from CBS Sports, places the Rebels outside this field, still giving the SEC slots to Missouri and Alabama and placing Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl.
The prediction from On3 has the Rebels facing the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl, and here's an excerpt with the argument for placing Ole Miss in this field and within the Top 10:
Both [Ole Miss and Missouri] lost at Georgia, but Missouri was competitive. Ole Miss beat LSU and Missouri didn’t. Missouri’s win against Kansas State took a hit with the Wildcats’ snowy Farmageddon loss to Iowa State. Meanwhile, the Rebels’ win against Tulane could look even better if the 11-1 Green Wave beat SMU for the American title. So we’re going with Ole Miss today.
Lane Kiffin (right) and Zamari Walton celebrate during Ole Miss' 17-7 win over rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.
© Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
Either way, Ole Miss is surely destined for a bowl game on or around New Year's Day, but the NY6 is obviously a more prestigious bump. But any New Year's bowl game is a good one, so Rebels fans should take solace in that, at least.
Of course, much of this could change next weekend with conference championship games, and Alabama and Georgia will represent the SEC in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon.
