What are Ole Miss' bowl projections after securing a Top-10 win?
It is more than fair to say Ole Miss football had a very good weekend after knocking off Kentucky in a Top-15 showdown to kickoff its SEC schedule.
With the win Ole Miss jumped into the Top 10 in both polls on Sunday and also remained undefeated, moving to 5-0 on the 2022 season.
Taking down the first Associated Press Top-10 opponent under third-year head coach Lane Kiffin also greatly improved Ole Miss’ bowl projections heading to the midway point of the season. Amazing what one quality win can do in the eyes of the bowl prognosticators.
Of course Ole Miss still has seven SEC games over the next eight weeks and anything and everything can happen, some of it will, but the Rebels can clinch bowl eligibility this weekend by beating Vanderbilt on the road.
The magic sixth win can be secured by Ole Miss at its earliest possible moment thanks to its hot start to the season. The Rebels can earn a bowl berth in the sixth week of the season for the first time since 2014 when they started the year off 7-0.
But enough about eight years ago and future hypotheticals. It is time to take look at where people have the Rebels heading this week — spoiler, they are all in the same state.
Related: Making the Grade: How did Ole Miss fare in its win over Kentucky?
Ole Miss has a Bowl of Fruit in its Future?
Taking down Kentucky did not but shoot Ole Miss up the rankings and the bowl projections as nearly every national projection this week has them playing in a prestigious Florida bowl, including a New Year’s Six bowl.
In what usually does not happen until way later in the season and when the postseason is a tad more clearer, Ole Miss is almost unanimously projected for the same bowl and the same opponent after Week 5.
ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach both have Ole Miss playing in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Jan. 2. They also each have the Rebels playing Minnesota.
The Citrus Bowl and the Golden Gophers continue to be the popular pick as CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm also has that same projection for Ole Miss.
Now, the Sporting News wanted to join the ‘cool kids’ table and slotted Ole Miss in the Citrus Bowl as well but deviated from the opponent by putting Illinois in over the Gophers.
Spending the New Year’s holiday in Orlando is not a bad assignment but Brett McMurphy sees bigger and better things for the Rebels in Florida. McMurphy — via Action Sports — has Ole Miss playing in its second straight New Year’s Six Bowl, taking on Clemson in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Dec. 30.
Another Lump of Sugar?
New Year’s Six projections are not exclusive to McMurphy this week as another outlet feels good about Ole Miss’ chances getting back to one of the premier holiday bowl games.
In the latest projections by Yahoo! Sports / College Football News, the Rebels are slated to return to New Orleans and play in the Sugar Bowl for the second straight season at the Caesars Superdome on Dec. 31.
Representing the Big 12 in this projection is Oklahoma State who the Rebels defeated in the 2016 Sugar Bowl.
Take Your Pick
In what can only be a mix up or a typo, Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson has the Rebels playing in two bowl games this postseason.
Similar to his projection last week, Johnson has the Rebels playing in Nashville at the Music City Bowl against Minnesota at Nissan Stadium on Dec. 31. Also in this week’s projections he has the Rebels going to the Citrus Bowl to play Maryland.
Something tells me Ole Miss is not playing in two bowl games two days apart and the safe assumption is the Citrus Bowl projection is the correct one. But it is fun to think Ole Miss is playing so well it deserves two bowl trips this year.
