New Bowl Game Projection Has Ole Miss Football Playing Close to Home

A new bowl game projection has the Ole Miss Rebels driving about an hour north later this month.

Nov 29, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels running back Domonique Thomas (26) runs the ball against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the fourth quarter at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images / Matt Bush-Imagn Images

The Ole Miss Rebels entered the 2024 season with a boatload of hype surrounding the program. If you had told the average fan that the Rebs could end the season playing in Memphis, Tennessee, they might have called you crazy.

Well, according to one recent set of bowl game projections, that's where Ole Miss could end up.

This week, Brett McMurphy of The Action Network released some updated College Football Playoff and bowl game projections, and he slotted the Ole Miss Rebels in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats. According to the story, Ole Miss would be favored by 6.5 points in that hypothetical contest.

The good news for Ole Miss fans who live in the Oxford vicinity is that this game isn't a very far drive and would therefore be a cheaper trip. The bad news (one that fans will care more about) is that the Liberty Bowl was not high on the list of hopeful postseason destinations for the Rebels when the season began.

Other bowl projections that have included Ole Miss this week have been the ReliaQuest Bowl, Gator Bowl and Las Vegas Bowl. It's hard to imagine that a nine-win Ole Miss team would end up in Memphis playing in the Liberty Bowl, but McMurphy has Florida (ReliaQuest), Texas A&M (Las Vegas) and Oklahoma (Gator) in those slots.

Ole Miss still theoretically has an outside shot at earning a College Football Playoff bid, but the general consensus entering Tuesday night's rankings reveal is that the Rebels will remain on the bubble and not reach the playoff field. Conference championships still have to be played, but it appears that Ole Miss' third loss of the season (one that came to an unranked Florida team) could sink its preseason playoff hopes.

The College Football Playoff Rankings will be revealed on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.