Rebels Reach College Football Playoff Semifinals in Latest Bowl Projections

Some new "rat poison" came to light this week, giving more for Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin to guard his roster against.

Dec 30, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin celebrates with quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) after a touchdown against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Ole Miss Rebels are widely believed to be a contender for the College Football Playoff this season after retaining a ton of talent from an 11-win campaign in 2023 and adding new pieces from the transfer portal this offseason.

That belief gained more steam this week in some new bowl game projections from 247Sports. In this scenario, the Rebels not only host a first-round playoff game, but they advance all the way to the semifinals before falling to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Brad Crawford, who wrote the piece for 247, believes that the Rebels will earn double digit wins again in 2024 and square off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Oxford in the CFP's opening round. Five-seed Ole Miss wins that game in this projection, advancing to face the four-seed Utah Utes in the Fiesta Bowl.

That's when things get interesting. The Rebels are projected to win that game too, advancing to the CFP Semifinals against Ohio State and...that's right...former Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins in the Orange Bowl. That's where Ole Miss' season comes to an end in this crystal ball prediction as the Buckeyes advance to face the Georgia Bulldogs for all the marbles.

Dec 30, 2023; Atlanta, GA, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) reacts after a touchdown throw against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

READ MORE: How Are Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss Handling Preseason Hype in 2024?

That's three weeks of increasingly-important games for the Rebels, if this scenario came to pass, and each of those games would likely be perceived as the biggest game in school history at the time. That's a lot of "rat poison" for Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin to have to deal with, something that he spoke on earlier this week.

"I do get concerned, obviously," Kiffin said. "I talk extensively about it to the players because I think that comes at them nonstop nowadays because of phones. That's a big concern of mine. I'm trying to work on those things all the time with these guys because now there's more of it than we've ever had here for sure with the preseason rankings, position rankings or mock draft things. It's a lot to guard against."

The predictions likely won't slow down for the Rebels until the opening kickoff of the season, but if they want these dreams (and maybe more) to become a reality, the focus has to stay within the Manning Center and the ongoing grind of fall camp. Bowl projections are fun as we wait for real football, but a lot can change between now and December.