The Ole Miss Rebels absolutely hammered the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on the road at their place over the weekend by a score of 40-6, a result that led to Wake Forest deciding to ‘buy out’ of next year’s return game in Oxford, meaning they paid the agreed upon amount to cancel the game.
This decision leaves Lane Kiffin’s program in a tough position, as they now have to find a new opponent at a time when most teams have already finalized their schedules. Kiffin expressed his frustration to the media earlier this week:
"Kind of an unwritten rule not to do that actually"
Lane Kiffin expressed his frustration with Wake Forest for cancelling their 2025 matchup in Oxford: pic.twitter.com/dAtZ1w8WF4
— Grace Ybarra (@gnybarra) September 16, 2024
“That’s rarely ever done,” Kiffin said on Monday. “I’ve never really heard of doing it, and it really puts us at a big disadvantage. It is what it is. It obviously wasn’t appreciated very much, them putting us in that situation…Now we’ve got to go find somebody and most people are all scheduled up. And even when you find somebody, you’ve got to go pay them. It’s kind of an unwritten rule not to do that, actually…I really find it amazing that you wait until the week of the game to tell the team.”
For Ole Miss in 2025, it leaves them in a situation where they will likely have to find a lower tier or non-Power 4 opponent, making their non-conference schedule which could potentially impact their argument for the College Football Playoff, significantly weaker.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP and hear him every weekday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5, available free online.
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