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Gator Bowl Prediction: Will Ole Miss make history?

Ole Miss Rebels come into Thursday’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against the Duke Blue Devils in much better shape and highly-favored to win.

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Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin reacts to a call int he first quarter against the Arkansas Razorbacks

No. 14 Ole Miss would rather be playing a College Football Playoff right now, but can still make the 2024 season a historic one for the Rebels.

A win in Thursday’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl would give Ole Miss (9-3) a third 10-win season in the last four years. The last time the Rebels accomplished that was with legendary coach Johnny Vaught leading the team (1959, 1960 and 1962).

And if the sportsbooks are right, Lane Kiffin will match Vaught’s accomplishment without much trouble.

Making predictions about games, even ones that seem to have obvious conclusions, are hard because there’s always an element of “anything can happen” in games. But the Rebels’ TaxSlayer Gator Bowl feels different.

Duke (9-3) is playing Thursday without its starting quarterback Maalik Murphy, who left in the transfer portal to go to Oregon State and are 17-point underdogs against Ole Miss. The Blue Devils are also dealing with several other departures while the Rebels have nearly their entire 2024 roster available for the Blue Devils.

Also, Ole Miss players and coaches have repeatedly talked about their excitement about playing. Not necessarily winning, but playing one last game with teammates who have had a lot of success and will be remembered as one of the school’s most-talented teams.

I fully expect the Rebels to come out Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla. and make that statement.

Jaxson Dart will want to make a statement, not just for the NFL scouts, but also to erase the memories of how his regular season ended against Florida. Fully expect him to have a big day and maybe set a single game or bowl game record for Ole Miss.

The Ole Miss defense will be pumped and motivated to shut down the Blue Devils (and probably won’t have trouble in doing so).

2025 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Prediction

Ole Miss 52, Duke 17

Ole Miss Men’s Basketball

Mon, Nov 4Long Island University Logovs Long Island University W, 90-60
Fri, Nov 8Grambling Logovs GramblingW, 66-64
Tue, Nov 12South Alabama Logovs South AlabamaW, 64-54
Sat, Nov 16Colorado State Logovs Colorado StateW, 84-69
Thu, Nov 21Oral Roberts Logovs Oral RobertsL, 100-68
Thu, Nov 28BYU Logovs BYUW, 96-85 OT
Fri, Nov 29Purdue Logovs 13 PurdueL, 80-78
Tue, Dec 3Louisville Logo@ LouisvilleW, 86-63
Sat, Dec 7Lindenwood Logovs LindenwoodW, 86-53
Sat, Dec 14Georgia Logovs Southern MissW, 77-46
Tue, Dec 17Southern Logovs SouthernW, 74-61
Sat, Dec 21Queens University Logovs Queens UniversityW, 80-62
Sat, Dec 28Memphis Logo@ MemphisL, 87-70
Sat, Jan 4Georgia Logovs GeorgiaW, 63-51
Wed, Jan 8Arkansas Logo@ 23 ArkansasW, 73-66
Sat, Jan 11LSU Logovs LSUW, 77-65
Tue, Jan 14Alabama Logo@ 5 AlabamaW, 74-64
Sat, Jan 18Mississippi State Logo@ 17 Mississippi StateL, 81-84
Wed, Jan 22Texas A&M State Logovs 13 Texas A&ML, 62-63
Sat, Jan 25Missouri Logo@ MissouriL, 83-75
Wed, Jan 29Texas Logovs TexasW, 72-69
Sat, Feb 1Auburn Logovs 2 AuburnL, 92-82
Tue, Feb 4Kentucky Logovs 10 KentuckyW, 98-84
Sat, Feb 8LSU Logo@ LSU7:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 12South Carolina Logo@ South Carolina6:00 PM
SECN
Sat, Feb 15Mississippi State Logovs 17 Mississippi State5:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Feb 22Auburn Logo@ Vanderbilt2:30 PM
SECN
Wed, Feb 26Auburn Logo@ 2 Auburn6:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 1Oklahoma Logovs 12 Oklahoma1:00 PM
TBA
Wed, Mar 5Tennessee Logovs 1 Tennessee8:00 PM
TBA
Sat, Mar 8Florida Logo@ 6 Florida5:00 PM
SECN

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