Season In Review: What Do We Make of 2024 Ole Miss Rebels?

The Ole Miss Rebels did not reach the College Football Playoff this season, but how does that affect the legacy of the campaign?

Nov 29, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) reacts after the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-Imagn Images / Matt Bush-Imagn Images

Let me preface this by saying that two things can be true at once. Nuance is sometimes a lost art in sports discussions, but I believe it's important here.

What do we make of the 2024 Ole Miss Rebels season with one game left to go in the Gator Bowl this week? For a team that carried so many expectations this fall, is a trip to Jacksonville and not the College Football Playoff acceptable?

In short, no, but that doesn't mean the year was all bad.

The 2024 Ole Miss football season will probably always be remembered as the year that wasn't. The Rebels went hard in the transfer portal and pushed every chip imaginable to the center of the table in an attempt to make a College Football Playoff run, and they failed to make the cut for the tournament.

That's a disappointment for a fan base that is always heavily invested in its football program, but there are also some positives to glean from this campaign.

As has been evidenced by Ole Miss' moves in the portal in the month of December, the Rebels still have momentum as a program. Nine wins in the SEC is (in a vacuum) a successful season, and it's obvious that the turnaround that Ole Miss has experienced since Lane Kiffin took office as head coach has been noticed by players around the country.

Now the Rebels have a chance to claim 10 wins for the third time in the last four years, a feat previously unthought of in Oxford.

Again, two things can be true at once. This season can be a good one on paper while still being a disappointment given the magnitude of expectations that were heaped onto this roster before the season began.

For instance, quarterback Jaxson Dart rewrote the school record books and will undoubtedly go down as one of the best to ever play his position at Ole Miss. The story of his and Lane Kiffin's relationship in Oxford is one of the top stories in all of college football, and Dart should be remembered as a quarterback who helped take the Rebels to new heights while he was on the field.

Claiming an 11-win season at Ole Miss (with a chance at a 10-win campaign this year) is no small matter. Still, Dart wanted a playoff run, and while that shouldn't negate what he was able to accomplish with the Rebels, he would probably be the first to tell you that there were missed opportunities in 2024.

Ole Miss hasn't enjoyed this level of consistent winning since the 1960s, but college football has now changed. The fan base wants more, and rightfully so. The 2024 season is a disappointment in terms of not meeting the championship-chasing expectations that pervaded both the inside and outside of the Manning Center, and the years ahead will determine whether or not this year is a one-off disappointment or something of a trend in Oxford.

The Rebels have established themselves as nationally relevant, and in the new world of an expanded College Football Playoff, they want a seat at the contenders table. And they have the capability to do so, from a roster construction standpoint, but putting it all together and actually making a run will be the key.

Dart is about to ride off into the sunset following Thursday's game, and the quarterbacking mantle will in all likelihood be passed to a young gun from Florida in Austin Simmons. Perhaps he can build on what names like Dart and Matt Corral have done before him, but the real test of his tenure will be whether or not he can finally get Ole Miss over the hump of reaching the CFP. Fair or not, that's the world we live in given the current state of college football.

Simmons does, however, provide hope for the future. The buzz around Oxford centered on this young man is palpable, even if it is largely based on one drive he orchestrated in Ole Miss' win over the Georgia Bulldogs. Still, that was a big drive against one of the giants in the sport, so maybe there's something to it.

My point is this: the 2024 Ole Miss season is and should be framed as a disappointment for not reaching the College Football Playoff, but disappointments don't necessarily mean that there are no positives to take from the experience. The Rebels have a chance to win 10 games yet again, and if they can play their cards right this offseason, perhaps they can be included in the contender discussion again next year.

That will be the big test. Gone are the days where nine- and 10-win seasons are enough to satisfy the donors. They want playoff experiences, and that will have to be the goal from here on out.