Ole Miss not set for a New Year's Six return in preseason bowl projections

Ole Miss returned to the New Year’s Six bowl last season after a six-year absence when it earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl against Baylor, but an encore performance might not be in the cards.

That is if the prognosticators and talking heads are correct in early August about how things will shake out four months from not.

Bowl projections are sometimes even murkier than preseason SEC standings projections, but they are still fun to look at and discuss all the same.

While playing in one of college football’s prominent bowl games is not something Ole Miss is anticipated to do there is still one consensus opinion. The Rebels will go bowling again in 2022.

Where Ole Miss’ postseason destination might be varies depending on which outlet’s bowl projections one looks at. A couple have agreeing predictions while others look like darts where thrown at a map with eyes closed.

Related: Now or later? What to expect from Ole Miss’ 2022 freshman signing class

Ole Miss heading for Sin City?

They say what happens in Las Vegas stays in Vegas and that might be true for Ole Miss come the holiday season according to two projections.

ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Yahoo Sports / College Football News each see the Rebels heading out West to play in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 28. Each also see the Rebels playing UCLA inside Reliant Stadium.

The fairly new Las Vegas Bowl is one that alternates participating conferences and the SEC gets to send a team there every other year and this season is their turn.

For Ole Miss to end up visiting the Las Vegas Strip the second half of the schedule will have to go terribly, terribly wrong in my humble opinion. The Rebels should be bowl eligible by mid-October, or at least it looks very possible on paper.

The problem is getting above the six-win limit will be tough for the Rebels. Road games at LSU, Texas A&M and Arkansas sandwiched around home game against Alabama creates a bumpy landing to the regular season.

Lone Star Rebels?

Another projection made by two outlets sees Ole Miss packing its cowboy hat and heading to southeastern Texas.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Athlon Sports each have the Rebels going to the TaxAct Texas Bowl on Dec. 28 inside NRG Stadium at Houston.

This time it is not completely unanimous between Schlabach and Athlon as they vary on who the Big 12 representative will be. Schlabach projects Iowa State facing the Rebels while Athlon projects Texas (wouldn’t that be fun after the Arch Manning recruitment saga).

Ole Miss returning to the Sunshine State?

In Lane Kiffin’s first season as the Ole Miss head coach he led the Rebels to its first bowl appearance since the 2016 Sugar Bowl. The Rebels earned a berth to the Outback Bowl in Tampa.

Ole Miss could be Florida bound once again, according to two projections.

Sports Illustrated’s Richard Johnson projects the Rebels to head to Orlando and play in the Citrus Bowl against Penn State on Jan. 2. Sporting News projects them to return to Tampa and Raymond James Stadium to take on Michigan State in renamed ReliaQuest Bowl on Jan. 2.

Getting to play back in Tampa might ideal for the Rebels as they have fond memories of the last time, defeating then-No. 7 Indiana 26-20.

Bluff City non-stop party

Of course there seems to always be one projection, whether preseason mid-season or the final week, that has the Rebels staying close to home and playing in Tennessee.

This year’s comes by way of Jerry Palm’s preseason projections at CBS Sports, pitting Ole Miss and Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl at Memphis on Dec. 28.

Memphis or Nashville are usually popular picks for where the Rebels might play as they always travel well and, yes, that is one of the major factors in play when bowls look for teams to invite.

Again, all these bowl projects released in late July and August add up to all of nothing but sometimes a few of them end up being right, or closer than most, in the end.

Either way the idea of Ole Miss getting back to the postseason for a second straight season being all but a sure thing is a good feeling.