They play in the toughest division in the toughest conference in the country. It’s important to get that out of the way when talking about the Ole Miss Rebels. But the same was true last year, in the second season of the Lane Kiffin regime and all he did was lead the team to a 10-win season, their first winning season in six years.
To get there they had to beat a couple of heavy favorites -at the time- when they eked out a 52-51 win over then #13 Arkansas and then beat Jimbo Fisher and #11 Texas A&M 29-19.
Kiffin is regarded as one of the best offensive minds in college football and he proved it last year as the Rebels led the SEC averaging 34 PPG behind the electric arm of Matt Corral.
Corral is gone this year, but in through the transfer portal comes another highly touted QB in USC’s Jaxson Dart who enters the year as a longshot Heisman candidate. Also coming through the portal are two running backs in Ulysses Bentley (SMU) and Zach Evans (TCU) who each averaged at least 6.4 YPR while combining for over 1,200 yards and nine TDs last season.
They also brought in a lot of receiving talent through the portal including TE Michael Trigg (USC) and WR burner Malik Heath (Mississippi State).
The defense was mediocre at best last year (an improvement from previous seasons), and they are counting on their strong recruiting class -and a youth injection- to help improve there.
It’s the biggest question mark heading into the season.
2022 Ole Miss Rebels NCAA Football Futures Odds
Odds to win the 2022-23 NCAA Championship: 100/1
Odds to win the 2022 SEC Championship: 40/1
Odds to win the 2022 SEC West Division: 16/1
2022 Regular Season Win Total: Over 7½ (-145)
2022 Heisman Contenders: Jaxson Dart +4500 & Zach Evans +15000
Official website: olemisssports.com
Twitter Account : @OleMissFB
Odds to win the 2022-23 NCAA Championship: 100/1
This is a solid to very good team that needs to get past Alabama and Texas A&M just to get out of its own division. They should be in the mix, at least through the first two thirds of the season when the schedule is light, but it’s a big leap to think of them as true contenders, especially with a suspect defense. Eventually these things catch up to you.
Verdict: Skip it
Odds to win the 2022 SEC Championship: 40/1
For the Rebels to have any chance here, they’ll need to start a perfect 7-0, including home games against Kentucky and Auburn.
Their final five games are as tough as any in the country, with three road games against the likes of LSU (with new coach Brian Kelly), Texas A&M and Arkansas. The home games are against #1 Alabama and arch rival Mississippi State in the season finale. They’d likely need to win four of those five just to get out of their division.
Verdict: Skip it
Odds to win the 2022 SEC West Division: 16/1
As much as I believe it is too risky to think of Mississippi as a true contender to escape this division of death, they have a great coaching staff, and some elite players in their program. If all the new talent from the transfers and recruiting class gel, it’s far from out of the question. But the better bet is wait till next year.
Verdict: Skip it
2022 Regular Season Win Total: Over 7½ (-145)
The path to eight wins is there. I think they’ll be at six or possibly a perfect seven wins after the October 15th visit from Auburn. That means needing around two more in that final five stretch. As they showed us last year, they are capable of beating the ranked teams in their division and I think we’ll see that happen again here as this is another nine or ten-win team.
Verdict: Over is a solid bet
2022 Heisman Contenders: Jaxson Dart +4500 & Zach Evans +15000
Dart left USC as Lincoln Riley and his quarterback from Oklahoma Caleb Williams went to sunny California. Now playing for one of the best offensive minds in the country, this duel-threat QB should be considered a dark-horse candidate, especially if the Rebels can get to ten wins and pull off a couple of those late season upsets.
Verdict: Dart +4500 is a good dark-horse candidate
Zach Evans has averaged 7.3 YPR in 146 career carries over two seasons for TCU to go along with nine touchdowns. He only caught 18 passes over that time. He’ll need to double his production in one year and maintain close to a similar average (at least 6 YPR) to get himself in the mix. That seems to be a reach, especially in a pass happy offense with other options in the run game as well.
Verdict: Evans +15,000 skip it
Odds According to Bovada as of August, 2022
Ole Miss Rebels 2022 Schedule
| SEASON | |||
| Date | Time | Opponent | TV |
| 3-Sep | 3:00 p.m. | Troy* | SECN |
| 10-Sep | 6:00 p.m. | Central Arkansas* | ESPN+/SECN+ |
| 17-Sep | 2:30 p.m. | at Georgia Tech* | ABC |
| 24-Sep | Tulsa* | ||
| 1-Oct | Kentucky | ||
| 8-Oct | at Vanderbilt | ||
| 15-Oct | Auburn | ||
| 22-Oct | at LSU | ||
| 29-Oct | at Texas A&M | ||
| 12-Nov | Alabama | ||
| 19-Nov | at Arkansas | ||
| 24-Nov | 6:00 p.m. | Mississippi State | ESPN |
Home stadium: Vaught–Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
*Non-conference game – All times are in Central time
Bet on the Ole Miss Rebels 2022 Season at Bovada Sportsbook.
