The Duke Blue Devils will meet the Ole Miss Rebels in Jacksonville for the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on January 2, and according to a Monday report from Football Zebras, a Big Ten officiating crew will preside over the game.
With an ACC and an SEC team in the game, the referees needed to come from one of the other conferences. The crew itself has not been determined yet, and with the Blue Devils close to the end of the bowl calendar, the exact officials will likely depend on the first few weeks of the college football postseason.
The Rebels started the year with College Football Playoff aspirations after a phenomenal transfer class, but a three-loss regular season ended Lane Kiffin’s chances to make the 12-team bracket. Despite the record, however, Ole Miss ended the year seventh in scoring offense (37.5 points per game) and tied for fourth in scoring defense (13.9 points per game), so it will provide a major obstacle for Duke’s second 10-win season in school history.
The final Duke football game of the season will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time on January 2 and will be broadcast on ESPN.