Ranking the opponents on Ole Miss’ 2024 football schedule
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The 2024 football schedule for Ole Miss may be the most favorable the Rebels have had in recent history, but no Southeastern Conference schedule can ever be called easy, in this humble opinion.
“Favorable” is about as good as you get in this meat grinder of a conference and in ’24 it gets a bit tougher with Oklahoma and Texas added to the mix.
So how do you rank this year’s opponents?
There’s no question Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs present the hardest challenge. They will be preseason ranked in the Top 3 in the nation by everyone who has a clue and they will be loaded with four and five star talent. Some are even predicting they will go undefeated – again – in the regular season for the fourth time in a row.
Having players like quarterback Carson Beck, safety Malaki Starks and defensive end Mykel Williams returning for another season are just some of the reasons why Georgia is projected so highly, and that doesn’t even cover all of the keynote returnees. It won’t be easy for Georgia to complete another undefeated regular season, but they have the roster to do it according to those who make a living predicting outcomes.
The good thing is that Georgia has to come to Ole Miss’ house to play on November 9 in a game that many believe will be the game of the year in the SEC, which, by default, means the potential to be the game of the year in the nation.
But how would you rank the rest of the Rebels opponents?
My money is on LSU in Baton Rouge on October 12.
The Tigers have lost Heisman winner Jayden Daniels and a couple of his top targets from last year, but they are always talented and 2024 will be no different. They will also have half a season under their belts to iron out any issues with “new” talent and Death Valley is never a bargain to try to escape with a win from.
Two weeks after LSU – after an open date, Ole Miss will host Oklahoma on October 26 in what very easily will be the third-toughest opponent on the schedule. The Sooners put up a 10-3 worksheet last year and, like LSU, it’s rarely a matter of not having plenty of talent in Norman. They have to face Tennessee, Texas, Auburn and South Carolina before traveling to Oxford.
After Oklahoma, who we rank third-toughest on the 2024 Rebel schedule, it looks like somewhat of a crap shoot in determining who is fourth between Kentucky at home, South Carolina there, Arkansas there and Florida there.
If forced, we’d choose either Kentucky or always a pain in the butt Arkansas as fourth. Kentucky keeps coming up with winning seasons and the Hogs will be playing for old Sam’s job and might have some extra motivation because of that.
South Carolina can be pesky at Columbia and another team possibly gaining some adrenaline for their coach’s job would be Florida, but their schedule is brutal and they should be wailing for Napier’s head by the 11th game of the season.
Next would be between Wake Forest and Mississippi State and with apologies to our Magnolia State counterparts, at Wake Forest may be tougher while Jeff Lebby tries to retool a depleted MSU squad that has to travel to Oxford for a game that could be very meaningful for the Rebels for postseason advancement.
Georgia Southern, Middle Tennessee and Furman – with as much respect as I can muster — serve as tuneups for Ole Miss as it prepares for real football.
Basically, we think it’s Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, a crap shoot of USC, Kentucky, Florida and Arkansas, then Wake Forest, then MSU and then a no-chance trio of Furman, Middle and Georgia’s little brother Southern.
How do you pick ‘em for toughness?
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