The Ole Miss Rebels; Yes the Rebels, could be a victim of their own success.It is a little over five months until the 2009 college football season begins, and they still don't have an opponent for their Sept. 12 home game.
Now I understand the politics involved in scheduling non-conference opponents. Some teams want a home and home. Some require a big payday.
But in the past, mid-majors, like the MAC, Conference USA, WAC, and so on, would be champing at the bit for a chance to take out an SEC school.
Now, after a 9-4 season which included beating the national champ to be Florida Gators and a convincing win in the Cotton Bowl over the big 12 power Texas Tech, the Rebs are having a hard time even buying an opponent.
They thought it was a lock with TCU just to have them back out to play Clemson, a rebuilding ACC team. For bowl eligibility reasons, you can only schedule one FCS school and they already have that.
You really don't want another BCS power house to start your year off when you know you have to play the SEC schedule. So what does that leave you? A bunch of mid-majors.
Now don't get me wrong, mid majors are no longer teams you can just run over. A prime example is the way Utah destroyed Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. On the other side of the equation is the fact that mid majors don't want to start their year off with a loss.
They know they have to go undefeated to get a chance at the BCS. I mean the Rebels are pretty hot right now. So I ask you, would Ole Miss still be having this problem if they had went 4-8?
Probably not, but I bet you can ask any Rebel fan if they mind. I bet they would take the year they had last year any day of the week. I guess sometimes being a victim really isn't that bad after all.
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