The hype swirling around the Ole Miss Rebels college football team in 2024 is reaching levels that might just eclipse the legendary tailgating scene at The Grove, if you can believe it.
Fresh off a historic 11-win season capped by a commanding 38-25 Peach Bowl victory over Penn State and their first top 10 ranking since the moon landing in ’69, head coach Lane Kiffin and his Rebels are poised to up the ante even further this year.
Sporting News’ composite preseason rankings have the Rebels sitting pretty at No. 5, and they’re not just coasting on past glory. They’ve got Jaxson Dart, a leading contender for the Heisman Trophy, slinging touchdowns. Plus, Kiffin, the undisputed portal king, has wrangled in the top transfer class in the nation.
Enter the sage wisdom of college football’s Yoda, the venerable Nick Saban, the mastermind behind the Alabama Crimson Tide’s dynasty. “Remind those players about rat poison,” Saban advised Kiffin, cautioning against the perils of believing their own headlines. “It’s probably some big fat guy in his underwear who doesn’t know crap about football.”
Kiffin, never one to shy away from wit or wisdom, took Saban’s words to heart. He’s even dropping Taylor Swift lyrics in interviews as metaphors for his own career trajectory—talk about a Renaissance man. Yet, whether Kiffin heeds his mentor’s counsel amidst his social media theatrics remains a topic for debate.
Luckily, the Rebels lucked out with the second-easiest SEC schedule by Sporting News’ reckoning. They won’t face a ranked opponent until they roll into Death Valley to tangle with the No. 13 LSU Tigers on October 12th, a game that’ll mark their seventh of the season!
If Ole Miss remains undefeated heading into that showdown, borrowing a page from Saban, the rat poison will be flowing thicker than ever. And that, my friends, would be a spectacle even The Grove’s legendary tailgates couldn’t rival.
