It’s not been 2 days since the college football season ended with Ohio winning the natty, and the 2025 college football drama has already begun with the Rebels. Ole Miss finished the 2024 season with a bang—a 10-win season and a Gator Bowl beat down over Duke—but somehow, they got zero love in the way-too-early rankings. And boy, Steven Willis, the Ole Miss insider, did not hold back.

He hopped on YouTube and roasted everyone from Lane Kiffin’s Twitter antics to the so-called credibility of On3’s Ari Wasserman and Andy Staples. Oh, and Texas? He dragged them too, calling out Arch Manning and some good ol’ nepotism. But let’s unpack this mess piece by piece—because, y’all, it’s wild.

Ole Miss didn’t hit the College Football Playoff in 2024, but Willis is big-time convinced they’re getting disrespected. First, he went off about how Kiffin’s habit of tweeting “Nice competitive game” every time the playoff committee snubbed them probably wasn’t the best look. “Ari Wasserman was sick of Lane Kiffin repeatedly saying, ‘Nice competitive game.’ Playoff committee? Way to go, playoff committee,” Willis mocked. And while that’s funny, he wasn’t joking about how he feels rankings are all about clickbait these days. The Ole Miss literally put outside of the top 25 in their way-too-early-ranking projection while having 7-6 Nebraska in the mix.

Then came the Texas takedown. Willis straight-up said, “Texas at number one? Give me a break. That’s just because if his name was Arch Davis, Texas wouldn’t even be in the top 10 next season. Arch Manning came in against the Georgia Bulldogs and looked lost. Austin Simmons came in against the Georgia Bulldogs and actually saved that game for Ole Miss and brought them into the equation. It’s ridiculous.” Diabolical, right? And was he wrong? Let’s pull up some receipts.

Arch Manning came in for Texas against Georgia and looked, well, mid. 3 completions for 19 yards and -1 on the ground in 4 carries? Nah, that ain’t it, chief. Meanwhile, Ole Miss? They handled Georgia like a boss in Week 11, even with Jaxson Dart limping off. Freshman QB Austin Simmons stepped in, balled out with a clutch TD drive, and reminded us all why potential is greater than hype.

Now, Willis wasn’t saying Ole Miss is perfect. He knows they’re losing heavyweights like Dart and Tre Harris to the draft and left Quinshon Judkins to win natty with Ohio. But as he put it, “There’s a ton of potential. There’s a lot more potential now.” Let’s talk about potential.

Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss playoff route

The Rebels’ 2025 playoff push might not be a long shot after all. Cole Cubelic, appearing on Josh Pate’s show, didn’t hesitate to name Ole Miss as a “dark horse” playoff contender. “I would probably go back to Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss,” Cubelic said. “We saw a little bit of [quarterback] Austin Simmons last year. He looks like he has all the ability. He looks like he has all the talent.” That talent will need to show up big-time, especially with Simmons taking the reins in a post-Dart world.

Still, Simmons won’t be doing it alone. Ole Miss hit the portal hard, snagging names like Penn State’s Trey Wallace and Alabama’s Caleb Odom. And let’s not forget De’Zhaun Stribling from Oklahoma State and Traylon Ray from West Virginia. The Rebels are loading up at wide receiver, giving Simmons plenty of firepower to work with. But here’s the thing: talent on the outside isn’t the only factor. Cubelic nailed it when he said, “The offensive line has been able to be circumvented for years now. I don’t need that to be great, but is the defensive line going to be close to what it was last year?” That’s the real tea.

Ole Miss’s defensive line took some hits with Walter Nolen and Princely Umanmielen heading to the NFL, but don’t sleep on their replacements. Princely’s younger brother, Princewill, joined the squad along with edge rusher Da’Shawn Womack. Add returners like Suntarine Perkins, Zxavian Harris, and Kam Franklin, and the Rebels might just have the juice to keep opposing offenses shook. Look, the Rebels’ 2025 season is a mystery waiting to unfold. Their schedule? Kind of a cakewalk, with eight home games and manageable road trips to Kentucky and Mississippi State. But let’s be real: the big tests are at Georgia and Oklahoma and home against LSU.

Can Lane Kiffin work his portal magic again? Will Austin Simmons step up and be that guy? December will tell. But if there’s one thing we know, it’s this: never count Ole Miss out.