Bracketology 2024: Latest Bubble Watch of key teams in late February

Mississippi (19-6) (NET: 65)
3-5 (Q1), 2-1 (Q2), 7-0 (Q3), 7-0 (Q4)

Ole Miss used a strong 13-0 start to get the season going, including a Quad 1 win at UCF. Additional wins of note came at home against Florida in early January and a nice road win at Texas A&M a few weeks later. The Quad 2 wins have come against NC State and rival Mississippi State.

There aren’t bad losses her, though the 9-point road loss at LSU featured a pretty rough effort. It’s not so much the losses, but how they’ve come, as the Rebels were blownout twice by Auburn, once by Tennessee and recently lost by 12 at Kentucky.

Clearly that NET figure isn’t in a desirable position, though their overall record doesn’t look half bad. It’s mostly inflated by a paltry nonconference schedule, meaning there’s work ahead for the Rebels in SEC play. Some challenging rematches with Mississippi State and South Carolina await them this week; this team needs at least one more Quad 1 win.

Mississippi State (17-8) (NET: 38)
3-6 (Q1), 3-0 (Q2), 6-1 (Q3), 5-1 (Q4)

Mississippi State is in good position because of their notable wins. A nonconference victory against Washington State has aged incredibly well and pairs nicely with home wins over Tennessee and Auburn, two of the best teams in a strong SEC. That record in Quad 2 games also stands out.

Their two blemishes in nonconference play were pretty bad, as the Bulldogs lost at Georgia Tech (a Quad 3 loss) five days before getting upset at home by Southern for a stunning Quad 4 loss. Fortunately, all six of their conference losses have come in Quad 1 games.

The Bulldogs have now won three straight games and still have those nice wins boosting their resume. The NET looks fine but the resume could still use some work. There are no more easy games on this schedule and winning a few more Quad 1 and 2 games before the postseason would go a long way for this team, starting this week against Ole Miss.