Ole Miss football finishes inside top 15 in final 2021 Associated Press rankings
The curtain has fallen on the 2021 college football season after Georgia defeated Alabama for the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday.
With that comes the final top 25 rankings to put a bow on the year. Despite stumbling to the finish line with a loss to Baylor in the Sugar Bowl, Ole Miss found itself as a top 15 team.
The Associated Press released their final top 25 rankings in the early morning hours on Tuesday, putting the Rebels at No. 11. That is down three spots from where they were heading into bowl season.
A 10-3 season is not what the Rebels were aiming for, but they did have the first 10-win regular season in program history and were one win away from the most wins in a season.
Ole Miss was the third highest SEC team in the poll, finishing behind No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Alabama. Kentucky (No. 14) and Arkansas (No. 21) rounded out the SEC teams in the final AP Poll of the year.
Texas A&M received votes, missing out on No. 25 by 22 points.
Of course with any ending of a college football season it does not take long for the way-to-early polls to emerge in the days that follow.
A couple of said polls have already emerged and the Rebels find themselves among the projected top 25 teams to start the 2022 season.
On3 has the Rebels at No. 25 in their early look at next season, citing the addition of transfer portal commit and former TCU running back Zach Evans as a positive.
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ESPN’s way too early top 25 puts the Rebels at No. 23. Bleacher Report has them at No. 20 and Sporting News is the most bullish on the Rebels 2022 prospects, putting them at No. 19.
The biggest concern is the lack of a known starting quarterback, or lack of faith in Luke Altmyer. However one chooses to look at it.
Both the offense and defense are losing pieces due to attrition of players graduating out, transfer portal or the NFL Draft.
Despite glaring needs to replace production on both sides of the ball, the Rebels are expected to at least start out next season as a top team in the country.
Ole Miss opens the 2022 season against Troy on Sept. 3.
