SEC Scheduling: Who Should Ole Miss' Third Permanent Rival Be?

With the Oklahoma Sooners and Texas Longhorns set to join the Southeastern Conference in 2024, the football scheduling model is about to change.

The Ole Miss Rebels currently reside in the SEC West with a permanent crossover opponent in Vanderbilt from the East. Now that divisions are heading out the door, it appears that each SEC team will have three "permanent opponents" each season with the rest being a rotating door.

This is tricky in a conference like the SEC. Many of these teams have longstanding histories against one another, but this does give each program an opportunity to see more teams than normal over the span of a few years.

With that being said, who should Ole Miss' three permanent rivalries be?

The first two are likely no-brainers. Mississippi State and LSU are the Rebels' biggest rivals in football with long histories stretching back to before the division model in the SEC. Those two should stay, but will (or should) Vanderbilt remain a permanent fixture on the schedule?

The argument can likely be made in both directions. Ole Miss and Vanderbilt have a long history in their own right with the added detail of it being the game where Chucky Mullins suffered his injury decades ago. Still, would this history be enough to warrant it remaining a permanent fixture in the scheduling rotation?

Arkansas provides a much more attractive option to Rebels fans, but the Razorbacks' ties to Texas A&M, Texas, LSU, and Missouri make keeping that one difficult.

There is, of course, Kentucky. The Wildcats have been the permanent crossover opponent for Mississippi State, but in recent memory, these two programs have had some memorable games, including two meetings since Lane Kiffin arrived in Oxford.

Kentucky would probably keep a couple of its historic matchups from the East, but, like Ole Miss, its third option could be up in the air. In fact, it seems that much of the SEC will be in that boat.

How it unfolds will be interesting, but Ole Miss has, on paper, been given a gift in Vanderbilt being its crossover opponent throughout the years. While the Commodores and Rebels often have competitive games, Vanderbilt is far from being a consistent powerhouse in the SEC.

The days of those meetings, however, could be coming to an end sooner rather than later.

You can follow John Macon on Twitter at @JMakeGillespie.

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