Every SEC season seems to start with the same cast of heavyweights. The usual powers get the headlines, and even with Texas and Oklahoma now in the mix, the spotlight still tends to land on the programs everyone already knows.
Ole Miss, meanwhile, keeps doing the work without getting nearly the same attention.
That’s been the story for a while now. As the Rebels have added more talent over the last decade, they’ve slowly built a stronger profile, but they still too often get treated like the conference’s afterthought - usually grouped with Kentucky, Vanderbilt and in-state rival Mississippi State when the underdog conversation comes up.
The results across the league only reinforce that imbalance. Since 2016, Alabama or Georgia has won the SEC Football Championship every year except 2019, when LSU took it. In men’s basketball, the titles have gone to Florida, Auburn, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama.
Across all SEC athletics over the past two years, Ole Miss has managed just one championship: this year’s men’s golf title, the program’s first since 1984.
And yet the Rebels still don’t seem to break through into the broader conversation. Even with the success they’ve put together, they’re often the last team mentioned, and in football they’re frequently framed as the surprise story of the 2025-26 season.
That lack of national attention isn’t because Ole Miss has been irrelevant. It’s because the top of the SEC is crowded with programs that already dominate the narrative, making it hard for the Rebels to force their way into the center of it.
What Ole Miss does have is a coaching staff that has become one of the more effective groups in the league. Lane Kiffin helped build that foundation, and now Pete Golding is leading it. The roster has followed suit, with solid returning starters, key transfers and better depth giving the Rebels a chance to compete both in conference play and beyond it.
The approach has also changed. Under this staff, Ole Miss has leaned into a more aggressive style, no longer asking the offense to carry everything on its own.
If the wins keep coming, the football team will have a real shot to climb into the SEC contender conversation.
For now, though, the bigger question hangs there: does it matter how Ole Miss Athletics perform, or will the Rebels always be stuck in the shadow of the conference’s bigger, louder names?
In Other News...
Ole Miss May Have A Hidden Portal Piece Fans Are Overlooking
With Lane Kiffin gone and Pete Golding now leading the program, Ole Miss is still sorting out what its offense will look like in the next phase, but the Rebels may already have a transfer addition who fits neatly into the picture. Running back Makhi Frazier arrived from Michigan State with some real production on his rsum, and he gives the backfield another layer behind Kewan Lacy as the staff pieces together its plans for the upcoming season.
Frazier is expected to work in a backup role, which can sometimes hide a player in plain sight until the season starts and the matchups change. If defenses spend their attention on Lacy and Trinidad Chambliss, there should be room for someone like Frazier to turn limited touches into meaningful snaps, and that is the kind of depth piece that can matter more than fans realize by the time the schedule gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
PFF Just Put A Mizzou Star In Rare Company Amid Uneasy Buzz
Pro Football Focus latest top-50 college football list for the 2026 season put a familiar SEC running back in a very select spot, with Mizzous Ahmad Hardy landing at No. 6 overall and as the conferences highest-ranked player. The top 10 was heavy on league talent, too, with Texas quarterback Arch Manning at No. 9 and Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy right behind him at No. 10 after his breakout year in Oxford.
For Ole Miss, Lacys placement is another reminder that the Rebels have real star power in the backfield even as the national conversation tilts toward bigger-name quarterbacks and headline programs. PFFs list only reinforces how much attention Lacy drew last season, and it sets up a fall in which Ole Miss will be expected to lean on him again while the rest of the SEC tries to catch up. [Read more 🡒]
This Overlooked Ole Miss Coach Could Decide Whether The Offense Stays Elite
Ole Miss has spent the offseason sorting through the ripple effects of a coaching shakeup, and one of the quieter hires may end up carrying the most weight. John David Baker is in as the new offensive coordinator for 2026, giving Pete Goldings staff a familiar name to help keep the Rebels attack on track after a period of transition. With Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy still in the fold, the ingredients are there for the offense to remain one of the SECs most dangerous units.
Bakers appeal goes beyond the title on his business card. He already knows the program well from his previous time on staff, and that kind of continuity matters when a team is trying to stay elite rather than simply rebuild. The bigger question is how quickly he can make the offense his own while preserving the tempo and production Ole Miss has come to expect, especially with another run at the College Football Playoff in view. [Read more 🡒]