Where Ole Miss Ranks in New AP Top 25 After Louisville Thriller

The Rebels opened the season No.9 in the AP poll, let's take a look where they ended up after a 41-38 win over No. 24 Louisville.

Mississippi Rebels kicker Lucas Carneiro celebrates with safety Andy Jaffe after kicking the game winning field goal as time expires against the Louisville Cardinals at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Ole Miss Rebels opened the season No. 9 in the AP poll and faced off against preseason No. 24 Louisville. The Rebels won that matchup 41-38 thanks to a walk-off field goal from kicker Lucas Carneiro and positioned themselves well to move up in future AP polls.

The Rebels are hoping to move up in the polls for Week 2 and want Louisville to stay in the top 25 to keep a ranked win.

With today being the release day for the AP poll, let's look into the rankings and what they mean for Ole Miss.

Ole Miss and Louisville Hold Still In The Rankings

Mississippi Rebels running back Kewan Lacy carries the ball against the Louisville Cardinals during the first quarter at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In the latest AP poll, both the No. 9 Ole Miss Rebels and No. 24 Louisville Cardinals held their rankings from the preseason, a sign of the competitiveness of the two teams' Week 1 game.

Louisville was just the first ranked opponent of many on Ole Miss' schedule, so having a ranked win this early on your resume is major for the Rebels. Even more so when considering the possibility of Louisville climbing in the standings if they continue to play as they did in the second half against Ole Miss.

The Rebels' maintaining their spot in the top 10 says a lot about what the AP voters think of an Ole Miss team that still has to play against five teams currently ranked in the top 25.

In the order Ole Miss plays them, the five ranked opponents left on the Rebels' schedule are No. 8 LSU, No. 23 Missouri, No. 4 Texas, No. 2 Georgia, and No. 11 Oklahoma. Assuming Ole Miss wins all of their non-ranked matchups, the Rebels will likely have to go at least 3-2 against their ranked opponents to make the College Football Playoff.

The earliest of the ranked games is September 19, when Lane Kiffin and No. 8 LSU return to Oxford. AP voters seem impressed with LSU's dominating win against Clemson, moving LSU up to No. 8 and ahead of Ole Miss from their preseason ranking of No. 11.

Ole Miss isn't likely to move much this week, at least not thanks to their own play, considering they're playing Charlotte. The Rebels are going to want to use this week to get healthy and prepare, both mentally and physically, for LSU and the upcoming rigorous SEC schedule.

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