Ole Miss has gone from SEC afterthought to a team with real conference weight behind it, and that shift changes the way this schedule looks. A season after reaching the College Football Playoff semifinal, the Rebels and first-year head coach Pete Golding are chasing even more. But if they’re going to make that leap, the path runs straight through a brutal set of SEC games.
The biggest swing game on the slate is the matchup with LSU. There’s no mystery there.
Ole Miss fans may have a new rival to circle, but this one carries more than emotion. It sends former head coach Lane Kiffin back to Baton Rouge, and the result will matter for playoff positioning and the SEC standings.
A win would give Golding a major boost for a lot of reasons.
Late in the season, Ole Miss also gets a road test at Oklahoma, and that one could reshape both programs’ seasons. The Sooners are coming off a CFP appearance of their own, and Brent Venables is trying to get them back - with a longer stay this time. For the Rebels, it’s the kind of trip that can alter the direction of the entire year.
Then there’s Texas, which continues to carry the kind of offseason buzz that makes people pay attention. The Longhorns look like they could be a force in 2026 if Steve Sarkisian’s plan comes together, and this matchup brings major conference implications along with possible Heisman Trophy impact. Arch Manning, Trinidad Chambliss, and Kewan Lacy are all part of that conversation.
And if Ole Miss wants to truly sit at the top of the SEC, it still has to go through Georgia. Kirby Smart has taken over as the league’s standard-bearer since Nick Saban retired, and the Bulldogs have played that way.
In Oxford, that showdown should bring the kind of atmosphere that lives up to the stakes. As Ric Flair put it: "To be the man, you have to beat the man."
In Other News...
Ole Miss Staff Is Suddenly All In On Landon Barnes
Landon Barnes has already started to draw attention inside the Ole Miss program, and it is not hard to see why. The four-star defensive end arrives with the kind of frame and upside that coaches like to talk about early, and the staff has been quick to point to his physical development as a reason he could help right away on the defensive line.
Defensive coordinator Bryan Brown has been especially bullish on Barnes, signaling that the freshman is more than just a long-term project. Ole Miss expects him to factor into the rotation this fall, and with his first camp set to begin Aug. 6, the next step is seeing how quickly that promise turns into production against SEC competition. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Suddenly Has A Player In College Footballs Biggest Money Talk
The NIL economy in college football keeps rewriting the financial map, and Ole Miss has a player right in the middle of it. Trinidad Chambliss, a former Division II standout from Ferris State who helped lead the Rebels to a 13-1 finish and a College Football Playoff semifinal in his first season in Oxford, is now being mentioned among the sports biggest earners, with a valuation that puts him in rare company.
What makes the number stand out is the company it keeps. Chambliss is projected to out-earn LeBron James this season, a striking reminder of how quickly college football money has surged past what used to be unthinkable comparisons, and it leaves one of the more interesting questions in the sport hanging in the air: just how much higher can this market go? [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Camp Just Put Pete Golding's Biggest Early Test Here
Ole Miss has opened fall camp with Pete Golding getting his first real chance to shape the program the way he wants it, and the early days are already offering a glimpse of how he plans to run things. The focus is on the basics that matter most in August: position battles, player development, and building a culture that can hold up in the SEC when the games start to count.
A few spots are already settling in, including the offensive line, where Terez Davis, Brycen Sanders and Patrick Kutas appear set in their roles even as the full combination remains in flux. The quarterback work will be watched just as closely, with Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy among the names to track as Ole Miss tries to find the right mix of command, chemistry and consistency before the season gets here. [Read more 🡒]