Ole Miss is headed to Columbia with the betting market giving the Rebels a clear edge, even though Missouri enters Week 7 with the same one-loss record and plenty of momentum of its own.
Circa Sports opened Ole Miss as a 5.5-point favorite in a top-25 matchup that carries major SEC and College Football Playoff implications. The over/under sits at 61 points.
This one also comes with a little extra storyline attached: Missouri quarterback Austin Simmons is facing the Rebels after starting for Ole Miss last season before an injury cost him the job to Trinidad Chambliss.
Missouri’s offense has kept rolling despite not having Ahmad Hardy this season. Hardy is still recovering from a gunshot wound in the off-season, but Jamal Roberts has stepped in and delivered big-play production.
Over his last two games, he has rushed for at least 211 yards and two touchdowns in each outing. His 828 rushing yards rank second in the country, and he has formed a strong pairing with Simmons.
Simmons, the Ole Miss transfer, has been sharp in his new home. He has thrown for 1,434 yards, 14 touchdowns and just one interception, helping Missouri emerge as one of the most balanced offenses in the country.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, snapped back into gear Saturday with a 52-17 win over Vanderbilt. That came after a rough 52-28 loss to Florida in Week 4, and Chambliss bounced back in a big way. He has now thrown for 1,435 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.
With the schedule about to tighten for both teams, the stakes only get higher from here. The loser of this game will be in a very difficult spot to make it to the CFP.
In Other News...
Mizzou May Have Found Its Third-Down Answer In SEC Play
For Missouri, the difference on offense in the win over Texas A&M came on the downs that usually decide whether drives survive or stall. Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee were central to the Tigers pivotal touchdown march, helping turn third-down snaps into momentum at a point in the game when Mizzou was putting distance between itself and the Aggies in a 27-6 victory.
Simmons and Lee have become the SECs most reliable third-down tandem this season, and that matters because Missouri has not been consistently explosive enough to live comfortably without extending possessions. The Tigers have converted 35 of 82 third-down attempts overall, and with conference play underway, their ability to keep finding answers in those spots may be the cleanest path to steady offensive production. [Read more 🡒]
Lane Kiffin Took Another Shot At Ole Miss Territory
Lane Kiffin had Missouri and Ole Miss on the same sentence line this week, and it came with his usual mix of praise and provocation. Now at LSU, Kiffin was asked about former Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons, who moved on to Missouri and is set to face his old school in an upcoming SEC game, and he offered a complimentary view of the quarterback he once coached in Oxford.
Kiffin also leaned into the tampering chatter that always seems to follow a transfer with this kind of matchup, brushing it off with a light touch rather than a heavy explanation. For Missouri, Simmons return to the other side of this rivalry gives the Tigers another layer to a game that already carries plenty of SEC weight, and it ensures Kiffins old territory will keep hearing his name a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Missouri Brings A Dangerous Twist To This Huge Oxford Test
Missouri heads to Oxford carrying real momentum and a little extra edge, too. The 13th-ranked Tigers have stacked up quality wins over Florida and Texas A&M, and now they walk into one of the SECs tougher road environments with a roster wrinkle Ole Miss cannot ignore. Former Rebels Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee are now key pieces for Missouri, adding familiarity, motivation and an unusually personal layer to a game that already carried plenty of weight.
Simmons has been central to that surge, earning SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors twice this season and giving Missouri the kind of production that can tilt a big conference test. For Ole Miss, the challenge is not just dealing with a ranked opponent playing with confidence. It is also trying to sort out two former players who know the place, know the atmosphere and arrive in Oxford with enough momentum to make this feel like more than a routine SEC matchup. [Read more 🡒]