After impressive runs in 2023, Ole Miss and Mizzou are set up to be contenders next season

Don’t pencil in two of Alabama, Georgia and Texas for the 2024 SEC championship game just yet.

The Bulldogs, Crimson Tide and Longhorns will deservedly enter the first season of the 16-team SEC as the favorites. Either Alabama or Texas could be a defending national champion bringing back a star quarterback for another title run, while Georgia’s Carson Beck returns and the Bulldogs once again reeled in the top recruiting class in the country.

But Ole Miss and Missouri may not be that far behind the top three. Both teams are set to play in New Year’s Six Bowls next week after 10-2 seasons, and don’t immediately dismiss this year as a fluke. Stellar recruiting through December and manageable conference schedules next year make the Rebels and Tigers contenders for spots in the first 12-team playoff.

The Rebels might have the best schedule of any team in the SEC next year and are reaping the benefits of the conference’s move to ditch divisions. Ole Miss’ only losses this year were to Alabama and Georgia. Next year, Alabama isn’t on the schedule.

Georgia is, but the Bulldogs go to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. So does Oklahoma. A trip to LSU also looms, but Kentucky is the only other team on the schedule that finished with a winning record in 2023.

It’s a slate that has Ole Miss fans dreaming of 11-1, especially with the transfers head coach Lane Kiffin has signed this offseason.

Kiffin has made his feelings about the transfer portal known since the NCAA loosened its transfer rules. But Kiffin has also made it clear that he's willing to do what's necessary.

Ole Miss has signed five transfers from Rivals’ top 100 so far and the Rebels are seen as serious contenders for Texas A&M DL Walter Nolen. Four of those top 100 signees are on defense. The Rebels gave up over 30 points three times in 2023, including 52 to Georgia in a game that officially ended Ole Miss’ slim College Football Playoff hopes.

Linemen Princely Umanmielen (Florida) and Tyler Baron (Tennessee) should fortify the defensive front while LB Chris Paul (Arkansas) is a two-year starter who tallied 14.5 tackles for loss over the past two seasons.

The offense returns largely intact, with QB Jaxson Dart in his third season running Kiffin’s offense and a healthy Quinshon Judkins. After rushing for over 1,500 yards as a freshman in 2022, Judkins played in all 12 games in 2023 despite being hampered by injuries. That showed in his statistics; Judkins rushed for 1,052 yards and averaged just 4.4 yards a carry.

The addition of former South Carolina WR Juice Wells gives Ole Miss a No. 1 target on the outside too. Wells (No. 19 in Rivals’ rankings) caught 68 passes for 928 yards and six scores as a freshman in 2022 before playing in just three games in 2023 because of a foot injury. Throw in the No. 16 recruiting class in the country headlined by five-star defensive end Kamarion Franklin, and you can easily see why Ole Miss fans are giddy for 2024.

Missouri fans are feeling it too. The Tigers are in a New Year’s Six Bowl for the first time since 2013 and have also used the transfer portal to fill immediate needs. The Tigers signed former Oklahoma offensive lineman Cayden Green earlier this week. Green, the No. 9 transfer in the country, started seven games for Oklahoma in 2023 as a freshman and projects as Mizzou’s starting left tackle in 2024.

The Tigers also added former Clemson CB Toriano Pride, and linebackers Corey Flagg (Miami) and Darris Smith (Georgia).

One of the most underrated transfers of the offseason could be former Georgia State RB Marcus Carroll’s move to Missouri. The Tigers are set to lose all-SEC running back Cody Schrader (1,499 rushing yards) after the Cotton Bowl.

Schrader accounted for nearly 75% of Missouri’s rushing total in 2023, while Carroll tallied 65% of Georgia State’s rushing yards. Carroll had 1,350 yards on 274 carries this season and has averaged nearly 5 yards a carry in each of the past two seasons.

Schrader and LT Javon Foster may be Missouri’s only significant losses on offense. Both QB Brady Cook and WR Luther Burden III are set to return and so could WR Theo Wease. Cook emerged as one of the better QBs in the SEC with 3,189 passing yards and 28 total touchdowns, while Burden was also an all-SEC performer with 83 catches for 1,197 yards and eight touchdowns.

Like Ole Miss, Missouri got a great schedule draw too. It could be even better than the Rebels' slate. The Tigers visit Alabama and don’t have Georgia or LSU on tap. Oklahoma visits Faurot Field and the third-toughest game on paper is either a trip to Texas A&M or a visit from Auburn.

Missouri also took advantage of a new state law that allows in-state high school recruits to earn NIL money as soon as they sign. The Tigers signed Missouri native DE Williams Nwaneri — a high school teammate of Green’s — on Wednesday. The five-star recruit is the No. 3 prospect in the country and one of five Missouri natives who committed to the Tigers during the early signing period.

Mizzou’s class ranks No. 23 in Rivals’ rankings and just 11th in the SEC. But it’s just the sixth time that Missouri has signed a top-25 class in the Rivals era. And three of those top-25 classes have come in Eli Drinkwitz’s past four recruiting cycles.

Had the 12-team playoff been in effect in 2023, both Missouri and Ole Miss would have made the field via at-large bids and played first-round road games. Next season, when the playoff is a reality, it's very easy to see how both teams will be a part of the expanded postseason. And don't be surprised if one or both is hosting a first-round playoff game.