When the Southeastern Conference announced a 10-game, conference-only schedule that will begin on September 26th, it was both good and bad new for Ole Miss. Yes, a season being played is triumphant, but the dialectical thinking comes from the positive of extra preparation for a first-year staff and the negative of losing non-conference opponents that may have provided a boost to the overall record.
Before Thursday’s announcement, the Rebels were scheduled to face Baylor, Southeast Missouri, Georgia Southern and Connecticut. In a perfect world, all four games end up in the win column. If that were the case, Ole Miss would have needed just two conference wins to reach a bowl game— and Vanderbilt and Arkansas are on the schedule.