Can Lane Kiffin Bring the Rebels to 1st in the SEC West?

Ole Miss has had a notable 2021 season, with Lane Kiffin leading them to as high as a top 10 ranking.

Despite the amount of success that the Rebels have had, BetMGM’s college football odds do not have them going much further, with Georgia and Alabama being by far the two biggest favorites to win the SEC.

For bettors, this might mean trying to find a dark horse that can contend in the SEC. Can that be the Ole Miss Rebels? Let’s take a look.

Ole Miss Remaining Schedule

Before we go much further, let’s take a look at who else Ole Miss still has to play in the 2021 season:

• Nov. 6 vs. Liberty
• Nov. 13 vs. Texas A&M
• Nov. 20 vs. Vanderbilt
• Nov. 25 at Miss St

The good news for the Rebels here is that they have a nice homestand coming up, with two challenging opponents on their home field and what should be a route against Vanderbilt after that.

They have already had some challenging road games in the SEC. That tough loss to Alabama, a scare against Tennessee, and a highly respected opponent in Auburn. On top of this, they beat Arkansas in a shootout on their home field.

Going forward, Ole Miss should be a favorite in every game that they play. The most vital game in that stretch will be against Texas A&M, who upset Alabama a few weeks ago.

However, even with their strong performance this season, they will need some help to win the SEC West.

Alabama Needs to Lose

Right now, the favorite to come out of the SEC West is Alabama. Truthfully, they are on cruise control right now, having just one loss in conference play and the tiebreaker over Ole Miss.

The Crimson Tide’s schedule doesn’t look difficult, except for the Iron Bowl on Thanksgiving weekend. Before that, they host LSU, NM State, and Arkansas in a homestand.

Considering that LSU and Arkansas have two of the worst conference records in the division, those are not games that Alabama is likely to lose.

However, Auburn could give them trouble. In recent years, Auburn has won three of the last four Iron Bowls that they have hosted.

So, for Ole Miss to win the SEC West, Alabama will have to falter in one of their three games before they meet Auburn. If they lose again, Ole Miss could sneak back into the conversation. It may very well come down to this year’s Iron Bowl for the SEC West.

Other SEC West Challengers

Alabama may be the favorite in the SEC West, but there are still a few other challengers in the division. The other two teams in the conversation are Auburn and Texas A&M.

These two will play each other at Kyle Field next week, so that game will all but likely knock one of them out entirely for the division.

Then, whoever is left standing will have one big game left each, both mentioned above.

For the Aggies, it would be playing Ole Miss on the road the week after this game. Auburn can look forward to hosting Alabama in the Iron Bowl during the last week of the regular season. Auburn is another team that will have to lose twice for Ole Miss to win the SEC West since they too hold a tiebreaker over Lane Kiffin’s squad.

Can Lane Kiffin Lead Ole Miss to the SEC Championship?

Lane Kiffin has done a great job keeping the University of Mississippi alive and has even helped keep hope alive for an SEC Championship. The question is now with the other challengers above, will the Rebels finish the job?

Do you believe that Ole Miss can still win the SEC West, or do you think that they’ve dug themselves into too big of a hole after losses to both Alabama and Auburn? Either way, sign up for an account with BetMGM’s sports betting site and place your bets today.