Ole Miss’ 2024 schedule is a bit of a nightmare.
The SEC made waves this week by finally announcing the conference schedule for the 2024 season. Needless to say, it didn’t disappoint.
With next year set to be the inaugural season for Oklahoma and Texas in the conference, the SEC had previously announced that they were getting rid of divisions, yet were still going to try to maintain a few key rivalries for each school, while looking to add new matchups, as well.
On that notion, they did a pretty good job.
And even with an eight-game conference slate, instead of nine, which had also been floated (it created quite a stir amongst college football fans), the schedules of every school in the conference are plenty difficult.
What Does the Ole Miss Schedule Look Like?
Brutal. That would be the easiest way to put it.
Many Ole Miss fans are probably sitting back right about now questioning what they did to deserve the kind of pain the 2024 season may bring.
Maybe it was dabbling with the notion of renaming themselves the Landsharks (Tony the Landshark is their actual mascot, after all), maybe it was the brief notion of becoming the Black Bears, or worse off, maybe it was the brief push from students for Star Wars character Admiral Ackbar to become the new mascot, following Colonel Reb’s dismissal.
Whatever it is, it certainly doesn’t feel like the SEC did them any favors. While we don’t have dates set, we do at least know the home and away opponents for the Rebels.
So let’s start with the road games.
Road Rebs
A trip to Fayetteville to take on an improved Arkansas team under Sam Pittman. Traveling to Williams-Brice Stadium to take on the Gamecocks of South Carolina.
Those certainly aren’t easy matchups, but they could easily be the two easiest trips of the year for the Rebels.
The other two conference road games are trips to the Swamp to take on Florida, and what probably ends up being a night game in Death Valley against LSU. With Brian Kelly down in Baton Rouge now, after watching the improvements he managed to make in his first year with the Tigers, the atmosphere in the upcoming years is going to be tremendous for LSU home games, potentially even more so than it’s already been.
Oh, and those are just the conference road games.
They also take a trip to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest, a program that has put together back-to-back 8+ win seasons, including an 11-3 record in 2021.
That’s a schedule that would already be considered decent for most teams, and that’s before getting to the home games for Ole Miss.
Party Time in The Grove?
The Grove is always a good time.
One of the best tailgating venues in all of college football, it’ll always stay crowded, regardless of opponent. Yes, that includes the non-conference home games featuring Furman, Middle Tennessee State, and Georgia Southern.
But with the SEC teams visiting next season, it could truly be an explosive atmosphere in Oxford.
Let’s start with the Wildcats of Kentucky. Despite improving greatly during Mark Stoops‘ tenure in Lexington, the ‘Cats are still a bit of an afterthought for many SEC fans.
Yet this was the atmosphere at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium last season for an 11 am kickoff between Ole Miss and Kentucky.
Now, add the fact that Oklahoma travels to Oxford during its inaugural season in the conference. A chance for OU fans to experience the Grove? Yeah, I’m optimistic that they’ll travel well, which just adds to an already electric environment.
And the back-to-back defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs? They’re making a trek to Ole Miss, too.
Want to talk about a crazy weekend in Oxford? You won’t be able to walk through the Grove without bumping into someone. The Square? Good luck getting into the Library.
And if they manage to knock off the Bulldogs, it’s a weekend likely to end up with goalposts being torn down, and potentially paraded around the Square, much like the huge 2014 victory over Alabama.
Then we get the Egg Bowl back in Oxford (hopefully on Thanksgiving night, where it belongs) with Mississippi State traveling north to take on the Rebels. Regardless of record, talent, or anything else, Egg Bowls are always entertaining, and next year won’t be any different.
So while the Ole Miss faithful won’t be sending any thank you cards to the SEC for the schedule, the city of Oxford might. The record may struggle, but the traffic, and revenue generated, certainly won’t.
After all, Ole Miss may lose games, but they never lose a party. The Grove is bound to be proof next season.
