The Ole Miss Rebels have their fair share of doubters ahead of their Fiesta Bowl matchup with the Miami Hurricanes. Some believe they're the least appealing team to a national audience remaining in the field.
SB Nation's Mark Schofield and James Dator had a "but" and a "however" when making the case for the Rebs, showing more skepticism about the idea of Ole Miss winning it all than Miami, the Indiana Hoosiers, or the Oregon Ducks.
Even the Ducks, the other team Schofield and Dator implied was probably going to lose in the CFP semifinals, got a "but this team comes up big when challenged" caveat. No such grace was shown to the Rebels.
"The Rebels won an absolute thriller on Thursday night, knocking off Georgia 39-34 in a Sugar Bowl that capped off New Year’s Day with a bizarre ending," Schofield and Dator prefaced before saying, "But after weeks of wondering how Ole Miss would respond to Lane Kiffin’s departure, the Rebels have surged into the semifinals, where they’ll take on a Miami team that has faced their own share of doubters. Questions will linger ahead of the Fiesta Bowl, as additional members of the coaching staff may depart for Baton Rouge ahead of the opening of the transfer period. But a star turn from Trinidad Chambliss against Georgia, and the momentum gained from a comeback win against the Bulldogs, could help propel Ole Miss into the title game.
"However, the questions that are lingering around the program — coupled with a matchup against a Miami team that is on an incredible run of their own — could see the Rebels’ story end in the Fiesta Bowl."
Ole Miss is SEC's last hope of avoiding awkward question
Could there be yet another CFP title game devoid of the SEC? For the third straight year, and second straight in the 12-team CFP era, the "It Just Means More" tagline may not ring true. It's all on Ole Miss now.
Per USA Today's Matt Hayes and Sam Hutchens, "offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. will continue coaching Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal against Miami." Several position coaches won't return, though.
That's asking a lot of the Rebs, who may be running out of anti-Lane Kiffin fumes. Typically, feel-good College Football stories end in very non-Cinderella-like fashion.
The 2025 James Madison Dukes and Tulane Green Wave, 2024 SMU Mustangs and Boise State Broncos, 2022 TCU Horned Frogs, and 2021 Cincinnati Bearcats all say hello.
The only approved underdogs tend to look like the No. 8-seeded 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes: only seen as "underperforming" to their fans, rich, stocked with talent, and having already won a national championship in the current century.
It's just strange that the only SEC school left is the underdog of the final four. This is the new normal now, though, unless any of the 16 schools Greg Sankey oversees can figure out a way to keep up with schools from other regions with more money to throw at players, coaches, facilities, and everything else in between.