What are Ole Miss' bowl projections after a perfect first half of the season?
Ole Miss got that all-important sixth win on Saturday after rallying back in the second half to rout Vanderbilt. Now that the No. 9 Rebels are bowl eligible where might the latest projections be sending them this holiday season?
First off, getting to six wins was not the endgame for Ole Miss (6-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference). The program has moved beyond that metric to determine a productive season since the arrival of Lane Kiffin.
But a team does have to at least secure that sixth win to know they are one of the 80-plus teams who will get that postseason game in December or early January.
After a perfect start as the season reached its midway point this past weekend, Ole Miss has done what many expected them to do with the soft-ish start to the season. Now, if the Rebels want to better the level of bowl games they can be considered for the real work begins this week.
Starting on Saturday Ole Miss begins its SEC West gauntlet after disposing of its two SEC East opponents by a a combined score of 74-47 over the last two weeks.
Auburn (3-3, 1-2) is first up this weekend followed by trips to LSU (4-2, 2-1) and Texas A&M (3-3, 1-2) then No. 3 Alabama (6-0, 3-0) at Arkansas (3-3, 1-3) and the Egg Bowl against No. 16 Mississippi State (5-1, 2-1).
Plenty of wins in there if Ole Miss can continue to improve, but enough crystal ball-ing. Lets see where the prognosticators are saying after six weeks.
Related: Making the Grade: How did Ole Miss fare in its win over Vanderbilt?
Ole Miss bound for the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’?
The first four weeks of the season did not include many appealing or eye candy-worthy bowl games for Ole Miss’ projections. But after its first two SEC wins the Rebels have seen the curb appeal improve with the projections.
Heading into Week 7 of the season the majority feels good about Ole Miss heading to Orlando and the Vrbo Citrus Bowl on Jan. 2 at Camping World Stadium.
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The majority includes ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm, Sporting News, Athlon Sports and the College Football News.
A destination of Orlando is the consensus but who Ole Miss will play in the SEC – Big 10 bowl matchup varies.
Bonagura and Schlabach, along with College Football News and Athlon, have Minnesota (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) facing the Rebels. Palm has Purdue (4-2, 2-1) and College Football News has No. 24 Illinois (5-1, 2-1) slotted for the Citrus Bowl.
Taking talents to South Beach?
Florida is the consensus state Ole Miss is slotted to play its bowl game in of all latest projections released but one outlet does not follow suit of Orlando the city of choice.
Bret McMurphy of Action Network projects the Rebels to head to Miami and play in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Putting Ole Miss in a New Year’s Six Bowl for a second straight week by McMurphy keeps things status quo, but he does change the opponent. Clemson (6-0, 4-0 Atlantic coast Conference) was slotted in the Orange Bowl last week but now No. 15 North Carolina State (5-1, 1-1 ACC) replacing the No. 4 Tigers.
