Where Does Ole Miss Football Land in Next Season's Way-Too-Early Top 25?
![Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin calls a time out during the first quarter of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin calls a time out during the first quarter of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_6000,h_3375,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/the_grove_report/01jj36ezec32rp8xv9fn.jpg)
The Ole Miss Rebels finished their 2024 season on a high note despite not reaching the College Football Playoff. Coach Lane Kiffin's team finished with 10 wins for the third time in the last four years and claimed a blowout victory in the Gator Bowl over Duke.
The final AP Top 25 has yet to be released for the season, but some outlets are already looking ahead to the 2025 campaign by releasing some early ranking projections for next fall. One of these outlets was 247Sports, and Ole Miss made the cut, despite not being very high in the pecking order.
READ MORE: Will Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons Continue Playing Baseball in 2025?
The Rebels are ranked No. 19 in the current projections, and you can view an excerpt from the piece below.
"Austin Simmons walked away from baseball to solely focus on football for 2025 as the new facilitator in the spread following the exit of Jaxson Dart. Lane Kiffin reloaded his roster in the portal, but the transition to Simmons will ultimately determine where this team finishes in the SEC title picture." -- 247Sports
It makes some sense for Ole Miss to be outside the Top 15, considering a strong veteran talent like Dart is eyeing the NFL. The Rebels also came in at No. 21 in Brett McMurphy's current ranking projections, meaning that they could be in this lower neighborhood when the 2025 season rolls around in August.
Of course, there's a lot of time between now and then, and given how Lane Kiffin tends to operate in the transfer portal, Ole Miss' roster could change in a few ways before the fall. Still, the Rebels will probably have to re-earn some respect early in 2025 since so many productive pieces are departing for the professional ranks, and they will be breaking in a new quarterback.
Whether or not they can do that will begin to be answered on Aug. 30 when the Rebels open their season at home against Georgia State at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.