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It’s an exciting time to be a college football fan, and one fan base that is excited for the season is Ole Miss football fans. With the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, this seems like the year that the Rebels can finally find a way to get in.
We're almost there. Another long college football offseason is almost over as the calendar now reads August, and the first games will begin on the 24th. College football fans everywhere are eager for the new beginning. College football fever is rampant across the country as we get closer to the season, but this offseason was a bit easier than others because of the new EA Sports NCAA 25 video game that just came out in mid July.
First off, there are going to be some rules changes this year in college football, and some fans aren’t going to like them. Perhaps the biggest change is the addition of the two-minute warning, like in the NFL. If you are like most college football fans, you're getting sick of the amount of commercials that we see during games. Well, the two-minute warning is just another way for TV Networks to pack another break into the action.
There are more changes, however, and these are ones that more fans are in favor of, but some still don't like them. College football is going to look completely different next year because of expansion to the College Football Playoff to 12 teams and conference realignment. California schools playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference? Yeah, things are changing.
Conference realignment has made things look a lot different. The power five is no longer a thing as the Pac-12 is essentially dead. Every team left for a new conference except for Oregon State and Washington State. Those two teams have scheduling alliances with the Mountain West, but they aren't actually in the conference.
Every other Pac-12 school found a new home. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State are now in the Big 12. Oregon, Oregon State, USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten. Lastly, Cal and Stanford joined the ACC (makes a ton of sense, right?).
The other big change with conferences comes in the SEC. Oklahoma and Texas are both leaving the Big 12 and they will join the SEC. The Big Ten and the SEC are loaded with good teams, and some think that things could be heading in the direction of two super conferences.
This season, we will also see 12 teams make the College Football Playoff instead of just four. For about a month, the College Football Playoff will be happening. Some people aren’t in favor of the big expansion, but there will be more marquee college football games, and it’s hard to be too upset about that.
All in all, this is going to be one of the biggest college football seasons of all time. The game is changing, and this is the start of a new era.
The expectation for Ole Miss football is to make the CFP
The Ole Miss football team has had a good amount of success under head coach Lane Kiffin, and the 2024 season seems like the one where they can finally get over the hump and get into the College Football Playoff. Last year, the Rebels ended up going 11-2 with a win in the Peach Bowl against Penn State (essentially the Big Ten's Ole Miss). Another regular season like they had last year, and the Rebels will find themselves in the College Football Playoff.
With the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams, the door is wide open for Ole Miss to make their first appearance this season. The expansion helps a lot, but even without it, this would be the Rebels' best chance to make a run at the SEC title and the CFP under Lane Kiffin.
Ole Miss football is returning an abundance of talent this season, including quarterback Jaxson Dart, and also, Alabama no longer has Nick Saban. The door is open for other SEC teams to have a run of success now that Saban is gone. Are the Crimson Tide going to go away? Probably not, but it's reasonable to think that they might take a step back after losing one of the most dominant college football coaches ever.
The recipe is there for Ole Miss football to have a big season, however, it's not going to be easy with their schedule. Here is one thing that might hold the Rebels back from achieving their SEC and College Football Playoff goals.
Defense
The biggest concern for Ole Miss football is their defense, and it's not that big of a concern, which is a good sign for the Rebels. Overall, this is a really good football team, and this unit played well for the most part last year. However, the offense is loaded, and it doesn't seem like they will have a ton of problems this season. Because of that, the defense is more of a concern than the offense.
Last season, the Rebels played well on defense in most of their games, but there were some that were concerning, and if games like that happen again this season, it could end up being the difference between making the College Football Playoff and getting left out. For example, the Rebels gave up 49 points to LSU and 52 points to Georgia last year. Those are the kind of performances that just can't happen, especially if the Rebels want to compete for a national championship.
Ole Miss football did end up beating LSU last year in a shootout, but they ran into a Georgia team that could slow down their offense, and it led to a 52-17 drubbing. If the Rebels want to have a chance in their toughest games this year, the defense is going to have to be better than that. They are going to run into teams that are going to make it to difficult to score a lot of points, and the defense has to hold up its end of the bargain.
At the end of the day, Ole Miss football fans should feel very good about where the team is at heading into the season. This looks like an overall very good football team that should compete for the SEC title, and it would be surprising to see them not make the College Football Playoff.
