Ole Miss Leaps Back in Top 10 After Wild Weekend

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss fans just thought they had a rough week after a loss to Kentucky. Over at Tuscaloosa, Alabama fans were probably beside themselves Sunday morning.

Some probably stumbled into a church whether they were members or not. It’s highly possible a number of them couldn’t make it because they were still hung over. Ole Miss fans don’t have a monopoly on drowning their losses in some kind of alcohol.

The Crimson Tide lost to Vanderbilt, 40-35, for the first time since Sept. 29, 1984. So now everybody has to deal with the bad taste the Commodores have beaten Alabama since their team. That also includes Ole Miss, who last beat the Tide in 2014 and 2015.

Six of the 18 AP Top 25 teams that played lost to unranked opponents (33%), the highest mark since six of 16 (38%) lost the first week of October 2020.

Ole Miss had a 27-3 road win over South Carolina, shooting the Rebels to No. 9 in the AP college football poll, released Sunday. Ole Miss had taken a week down at No. 12 after rising as high as fifth in the polls before a loss to Kentucky.

As you might expect, the SEC had a staggering amount of teams losing that were ranked near the top of the poll.

Alabama among four teams in the top 11 to lose to unranked opponents — the first time that’s happened since October 2016.

Tennessee lost to Arkansas and went from No. 4 to No. 8. Michigan lost at Washington and went from No. 10 to No. 24. USC lost at Minnesota and went from No. 11 to out of the Top 25. The Trojans were first among teams also receiving votes.

Texas A&M soundly beat Missouri at home in the only Top 25 matchup. That earned the Aggies a promotion from a tie for No. 25 to No. 15 and the Tigers a demotion from No. 9 to No. 21.

At the halfway mark of the season, Ole Miss is sitting at 5-1, which is the same place as Alabama and Georgia, the two teams a lot of Rebel fans keep an eye on their result every week. It also means the playoffs are still very much in play.

Ole Miss just has to keep winning, a fact Lane Kiffin is very aware of as he prepares for LSU to come to town next week before getting an off week.

The game with the Tigers is probably the biggest game in the country next week and will kick off at 6:30 p.m., televised on ABC. That will put the maximum number of viewers watching because no cable is even required for that one. Fans in Mississippi can list on the Ole Miss Radio Network.