Ole Miss football's season ended on a bitter note after getting snubbed from this past season's College Football Playoff field. The Rebels had their embarrassing days and winning days.
But that was in 2024.
This offseason, the real question should be: will head coach Lane Kiffin get Ole Miss to the College Football Playoff in 2025?
SEC analyst Cole Cubelic has faith that Ole Miss can reach the goal by finding answers to Dart's replacement and maintaining the standard of the defensive line.
"I would probably go back to Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss," Cubelic said on Josh Pate's College Football show when picking teams that could surprise next season.
Cubelic points out that Dart's most probable replacement, Austin Simmons, looks promising. But his primary challenge would be filling Dart's shoes as the offense's leader and maintaining the offense's recent lofty standard under Kiffin.
"I mean we saw a little bit of Austin Simmons last year. He looks like he has all the ability. He looks like he has all the talent. Now, is he going to be able to run the offense and manage the offense and operate the offense and be the gamer that Jaxson Dart was? We don't know that yet," Cubelic said.
The QB problem is more urgent for Kiffin. But he cannot take the quality of his defense for granted after having such a blockbuster season in that department.
The Rebels' defense was ranked the best in the country. Kiffin would need to maintain that reputation, in case Simmons takes his own sweet time to make their offense equally robust.
"Is the defensive line going to be close to what it was last year? That's what's going to happen if Ole Miss is going to make that push and maybe make that run," Cubelic said.
The mantra is simple for Kiffin to reach CFP in 2025: find a QB and maintain a defensive line benchmark.
Nonetheless, it's always easier said than done.