Ole Miss Football: 3 reasons NCAA sanctions doom the Rebels

Ole Miss football has a long road ahead now with NCAA sanctions levied against the program. Here’s why the Rebels will be doomed.

It’s been a rough year for Ole Miss. It started in the offseason with rumors of sanctions and an NCAA investigation taking place. That led to head coach Hugh Freeze resigning and the program self-imposing a one-year bowl ban on itself.

After a 6-6 season that saw star quarterback Shea Patterson go down with a season-ending injury, the Rebels brought on Matt Luke as the full-time head coach, shaking the interim tag. Just a week after the regular season came to a close, they also learned their fate from the investigation.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions docked the program a number of scholarships and enforced a two-year bowl ban. One of those years of the ban is already underway as it’s using the self-imposed bowl ban as part of the two-year deal. The university will also be fined and the hits just seem to keep on coming.

Here’s why the Rebels are doomed now that he NCAA sanctions are official.

3. Recruiting will take a major hit

With the scholarships being docked and no bowl to sell for the next year, recruiting is going to take a major hit. With looming transfers and an unproven head coach, it looks like even when the bowl ban is lifted, the Rebels are going to have a tough time selling the program which will undoubtedly finish around .500, barring a miracle, next season.

Recruiting took a hit with the Hugh Freeze departure in the offseason and it’s sure to take a major step back again with this NCAA sanctions news.

Kids don’t want to play for a program that has been under fire — at least not right away. It took Penn State a couple of years to rebound from their sanctions and Baylor is still struggling to get back on track after the controversy that hit that program.

I’m not saying Ole Miss is doomed forever, but these sanctions will keep the Rebels from recruiting at a high level for at least the next few years.