Ole Miss Schedule for the third time in four years ol Miss is winning 10 regular season games and that should put them into the college football playoff that is Steven Willis lockon ol Miss joining me here on the show we're breaking down this m Miss schedule because it's interesting it's very ol Miss like Stephen in that the the first few weeks not a lot of people are going to watch very many Old Miss games because it's it's a Ferman Middle Tennessee wake Georgia Southern people will tune in for the Kentucky game that's about it but I am hard pressed with the the returners they have the off season that they have had laye kein still there I'm hardpressed to see ol miss doing anything but starting Five-0 well now that fall Camp has begun and everything the story around Old Miss is the fact that lane kein is taking a very NFL approach to fall Camp to where they've had three practices in five days they've had a ton of classroom time they've had a ton of walk through R but they're trying to slowly ramp up and a lot of that in my opinion is those first games um when you look at it like Ferman and MTSU and Georgia Southern and even on the road at Wake Forest because they have the time to make that ramp um it's like you say it's a very Miss like schedule I think this is the most talented Miss team that that the rebels have had in the lane kein era I mean the transer portal class my it's not in your lifetime and you've been an Old Miss fan for how long uh my first Old Miss game was Steve SS last which was an 82 folks did you hear the the the speed Upset Predictions and accuracy with which he whipped that one out there was no hesitation that's burned into his brain right there that's a guy who's seen a thing or two but I see the 5-0 start and we've seen Lan kein teams do that before and their season will be defined by the second half of their schedule but I have an upset on here Stephen I think that Kentucky game which will be the first real kind of test you know Wake Forest is not anything special in the ACC they at least have a power four non-conference opponent on there but wake is not going to be anything special Ferman Middle Tennessee Georgia Southern I think Kentucky will be a good look but Kentucky doesn't wow me the way that Old Miss does but every year teams stumble it's usually away from home and I'm picking an upset here South Carolina over Old Miss in game six this is one of the two losses that I have on Miss's schedule here in 2024 I think they are going to go to the Gamecocks and walk home with their first lost am I insane you're not insane um and I do not think that South Carolina is going to be particularly good this year and I do think om Miss is probably going to be about a 10-point favorite in that game but if you look at the schedule you can see that the next week is the game at Tiger Stadium against LSU and everybody is pointing to that game South Carolina and Williams Bry stadium is a very difficult place to play and we saw them against Tennessee a couple of years ago have one of those weird nights where they were to put it together at Williams Bryce so if you had to pick an upset that is probably one of the places that I would look forward I do not personally think that that going to happen but I can see where your thought was the other consideration for a potential upset and I don't think every team is going to get uh majorly upset throughout the course of their 2024 season the other one I looked at was Florida but quite frankly I don't Ole Miss know the look ahead factor that you mention is a big part of the reason that I landed on that South Carolina game but do not fear Rebels fans I am not here to crap on Miss and say it's going to be the same old same old and you're not going to run with the big kids and you can't do it no I think they are going into Death Valley and walking out with a win I hope it's every bit as crazy as it was a season ago as someone who doesn't have a specific dog in that particular fight but I think they win at LSU I think they come back home riding high off the win feel like they've rided the ship they'll be back in the top 10 after the loss of South Carolina then they will come back home and I think Oklahoma's good but I think Miss is better and I'll take the rebels in Oxford and those two wins right there if you win both of those games even if you have the South Carolina loss I think ol Miss cements themselves as a playoff team barring a collapse down the stretch yeah 10 wins I think is a a necessity now a lot of people like to think of like 10 wins might not be enough from the SEC it's like don't don't listen to that um every year hypothetically they can make it where a 10 team does not make it in but that's not the way this works um if Miss wins 10 in the regular season they're going to the playoff I think so as well here's the here's the caveat what if they win 10 and you know in my schedule predictions I'm not lining up the tiebreakers here because it can get wonky and weird and whatnot now that there there are no divisions and such what if they go to the SEC Championship game and lose what if they're sitting there at 10 and three kind of a conundrum for the playoff committee isn't it Stephen the first time that a team goes into the SEC Championship game with the idea that they're going to the champion to the playoffs and they lose and they don't make the playoffs is the last year that we have the championship game I think that has put exceptionally SEC Championship well because I I tend to agree and if you look at the SEC Championship Games over over the years it tends to be a matchup of one loss or undefeated teams and I've said for a long time on this show that I I think the the SEC Championship Game matchup is going to have one loss or undefeated teams in it so the loser is a deao auto bid into the playoff because if you're an 11-2 team you're in it was it was just food for thought I I think your point is uh is very well taken so LSU Oklahoma I like the wins at Arkansas I don't see a stumble there I I think Sam Pitman has a less than 50% chance of being the head coach of the Razer backs in 2025 and that's just the way things have gone he's had a nice run but I think it's going to come to come to a head this year and I don't anticipate Miss stumbling there then they come back home for gosh it's got to be one of the biggest games in Oxford in the last decade Stephen you're going to have probably top ranked Georgia coming in the point spread is going to be under five it's going to be in favor of the dogs last I looked it was 4 and A2 5 and A2 in that uh sort of range I think it'll be less than that once LSU and Oklahoma both succumb to the prowess of ol Miss but I do think Georgia goes into Oxford and walks out a winner I I think hot take here Stephen I'm bullish on Georgia yeah the it's the best roster in college football they everybody else is playing college football and they they basically have a UFL roster with the talent that Georgia has at the moment and yeah it there's no shame in losing that game but miss can win it y but the stars are going to have to align for that to happen they they absolutely will but that's the last loss of the Season until they get to uh the playoff and we see what the matchups are at Florida hosting Mississippi State I think you've got a mismatch there in in the coaching sense I think you've got a mismatch in the roster sense I I don't anticipate those being problematic games for ol Miss so that's how I land on the rebels ending the season 10-2 and into the college football playoff yeah 10 and two they would probably be on that close to that 89 line depending on you know you know that early South Carolina lost and then you lost to Georgia so maybe you've put yourself in a position to potentially host depending on where you sit if Miss hosted a playoff game that would be the biggest football game in the state of Mississippi history there would be 300,000 people in Oxford for that game and picture Miss against Notre Dame Miss versus a teamas versus Penn State a rematch of last year's Peach ball I I just think that could be nuts it'd be how about how about how about this one how about M Miss and Oregon and that way we can go down and hang out in the Grove together how about that doesn't sound like a good time yeah that would be absolutely fantastic and and Puddles the duck could make an appearance in o yeah the duck would the duck would be down there do you guys have any waterways where the giant inflatable duck could go uh Sardis Reservoir is down you know 15 miles perect perfect yeah that'll that'll that'll do we can get a they can they can set up a phot or something yeah yeah yeah let's let's speak that into existence Steven Willis so you have Miss um you have Miss 11 and one just just to clarify yes yes 11 and one I UMAS is going to be favored likely at kickoff um in 11 of the 12 gam so if it goes chalk that would be how they would end up and I don't see any reason to think that it won't go chalk because L kein usually wins games he's supposed to win well that's why they uh play the games as they say Steven Willis locked on Old Miss fantastic stuff we both like H Miss winning at least 10 games if you can still get their win total at n and a half over at FanDuel bet that over Stephen appreciate it as always appreciate it Smasher