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The Ole Miss Rebels have made their case to the College Football Playoff committee.
The Rebels took home a 26-14 victory over Mississippi State to take home the Egg Bowl trophy and finish their regular season with a 9-3 record.
Ole Miss produced 397 offensive yards and possessed the ball for 31:44. The defense forced three Bulldog turnovers and limited the rushing attack to just 39 total yards on 30 attempts.
Rebels quarterback Jaxson Dart was solid, going 14-of-24 for 143 yards and a touchdown while adding 77 yards on five carries on the ground. Tailback Ulysses Bentley IV was the star of the day with 20 carries for 136 yards and a touchdown.
The victory was the final opportunity for Ole Miss to make a case for the Playoff. The Rebels will not play in the SEC Championship and entered the game as the No. 14 team in the rankings.
This is not a good sign for the team’s chances, as 12 teams qualify and five of the entries will come via a conference champion bid. Ole Miss will need to hope some chaos happens in front of them and that the committee values some of the program’s strong wins.
Fans took to social media to debate Ole Miss’ candidacy and whether the gauntlet of the SEC schedule is enough to push them past programs with better records.
The Cougar King @tck_cfb
CFB playoff committee watching this snoozer of an egg bowl . Preparing to say Ole Miss passed the ‘eye test’ in a classic rivalry matchup. pic.twitter.com/bTMmiAQ2dD
Steven Willis @TheStevenWillis
Three Takes:
1. Ole Miss has won 4 out of 5 Egg Bowls and that is big
2. This offense survived tonight…Dart was talking like he is done
3. I think the Playoff is done and now it is on to 2025 pic.twitter.com/ERt79Fkat7
Periodic IU Tweets @dailyhoosier
Ole Miss struggling at home against 2-9 Mississippi State should probably earn them a first round bye in the playoff #iufb
Alabama, Indiana, SMU, Tennessee, Clemson and Notre Dame will all play on Saturday and the results on those games should make-or-break Ole Miss’ bid. If the majority of those teams win, Ole Miss will likely be in a premier bowl game that is just outside of the playoffs.
Regardless, the Rebels still put together a strong season and are now 43-18 under head coach Lane Kiffin.
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