Ole Miss Listed as College Football Playoff Host in Recent Bowl Game Projections

Will Vaught-Hemingway Stadium host a College Football Playoff game this season?

Sep 30, 2023; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) waits for the snap during the first quarter against the LSU Tigers at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

With college football season swiftly approaching, the hype for the 2024 campaign continues to build. Bowl season is still months away, but that hasn't stopped some very early projections for the postseason being published in recent days.

Where do the Ole Miss Rebels stand in these projections? According to Brad Crawford's list with 247Sports, the Rebels could expect to host a first-round game in the College Football Playoff this season, squaring off against an ACC foe in Oxford.

Crawford has Ole Miss listed as the No. 7 seed in the CFP, playing host to the 10-seed Miami Hurricanes. You can view an excerpt from the story below.

No. 10 Miami at No. 7 Ole Miss 

One of three projected home games for SEC teams during the first round of the expanded playoffs, this would mark Lane Kiffin's biggest as a head coach to date against surprise ACC runner-up Miami.

Would Ole Miss win this game? According to these projections, yes, and that would send them to a rematch against the Georgia Bulldogs in the Rose Bowl. Crawford seems to think that Ole Miss has a shot to win the regular season game between the two in Oxford this fall, but Pasadena may be a different story.

"These teams will have already played a few weeks earlier in Oxford, with the Rebels (projected) avenging last year's loss to the Bulldogs in Athens," the story reads." But it's hard to beat an elite team twice."

Even if Ole Miss reached the second round of the CFP and lost, that would still serve as a remarkable season in Oxford. If the Rebels can host a first-round playoff game, that day in December would automatically become the biggest game in school history. Throw in the fact that it could be against a brand like the Hurricanes of Miami, and you have the perfect storm for a historic night at Vaught-Hemingway.

In some sense, bowl projections this early are an exercise in futility. Injuries happen, and teams always overperform or underperform in a given season. But what it illustrates in this situation is the fact that national pundits are buying in to Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss' hype in 2024.

Can they meet those expectations? The Rebels open their season at home on Aug. 31 against the FCS Furman Paladins.