Gator Bowl preview: Odds, prediction and how to watch Ole Miss vs. Duke

The No. 14 Ole Miss Rebels were another team sitting squarely on the College Football Playoff bubble entering Week 15 but because they were not competing for the SEC title, they were excluded along with conference-mates Alabama.

Instead, head coach Lane Kiffin and Co. will have to settle for the prestigious Gator Bowl which it last appeared in way back in 1990, a 35-3 loss to Michigan. However, a loss does not appear likely this time around given the Rebels' opponent.

Duke (9-3) mostly rode the coattails of transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy who, again, has entered the portal and will not participate. Even if Ole Miss is shorthanded itself, this is a juicy consolation matchup.

When is the Gator Bowl?

Ole Miss and Duke will face off Jan. 2 in Jacksonville, Florida at 7:30pm ET. The two teams will battle it out on the gridiron of EverBank Stadium, host of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars.

It'll be the third time the Rebels have played in the Gator Bowl, the first coming in 1958. Duke has never played in the Gator Bowl before and this will be the first time these two programs have played one another in the postseason.

Ole Miss v. Duke: Matchup preview

Ole Miss had one of the best offenses in the entire country all year long, finishing second in the FBS behind only the Miami Hurricanes. Quarterback Jaxson Dart is projected to be selected in the 2025 NFL Draft so it's unlikely he will play in the Gator Bowl. Even then, Kiffin's team still enters the contest as a massive threat.

Duke will be without starting quarterback Maalik Murphy, who transferred from Texas this year and is now back in the portal looking for a new home. That will severely hamper the Blue Devil offense that was already ranked outside the Top 50 to begin with. Murphy finished 22nd in the FBS in passing yards (2,933), about a thousand behind Dart who is third (3,875).

The Rebels own the 17th-best defense in college football, which would've been a daunting task for Duke to overcome even if it had Murphy under center. Redshirt sophomore Henry Belin IV will undertake the challenge of navigating the Ole Miss defense but the matchup is not favorable whatsoever as he's only started one game in his career down in Durham.

How to watch the Gator Bowl

ESPN will be airing the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 at 7:30pm ET. The game can also be found online at ESPN.com and with an ESPN+ subscription. Those will Hulu plus Live Sports and other streaming platforms like YouTube TV and Fubo can watch the Rebels take on the Blue Devils. ESPN games can be found on the Disney+ app with a qualifying subscription as well.

Gator Bowl odds, picks and prediction

Under 52.5 (-110)

Duke is a 14.5 point underdog entering the contest and rightly so. The Ole Miss offense is going to be too much to handle for the Blue Devil defense but will the score balloon like Las Vegas thinks it will? The over/under is set at 52.5 and that seems easy enough to reach with the Rebel offense alone.

However, with Dart not playing it wouldn't be surprising to see some offensive inefficiencies appear in his absence. Duke probably won't put up a ton of points either and if Ole Miss is draining clock while scoring, then the under actually seems more plausible in this situation. Tread lightly where Vegas may be using season averages to bait bets.

Prediction: Ole Miss 31 Duke 10 (+7000)