Ole Miss enters the 2026 season with a No. 9 spot in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, a slight bump from the No. 10 slot the Rebels held in the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll earlier this month.
The AP poll, released Aug. 17, puts Ohio State at No. 1, with Oregon right behind at No. 2.
Ole Miss is one of four SEC teams in the top 10 and sits behind Georgia at No. 3, Texas at No. 5 and Texas A&M at No.
The ranking reflects the buzz around a Rebels team coming off its first College Football Playoff appearance. Ole Miss won its CFP opener against Tulane and then knocked off Georgia in the Sugar Bowl before the run ended with a 31-27 loss to Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy are back, giving Ole Miss what should be a dangerous one-two punch. The program has even rolled out a joint Heisman Trophy campaign for the pair.
Ole Miss opens the season Sept. 6 against Louisville in a neutral-site matchup at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
CT on ABC. The Cardinals check in at No. 24 in the AP poll.
The full top 25 has Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, Indiana, Miami, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Oklahoma rounding out the top 10. LSU, Texas Tech, Alabama, BYU, Southern Cal, Michigan, Washington, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee, Utah, Iowa, Houston, Louisville and Missouri follow.
Others receiving votes: Clemson 112, Florida 51, Boise State 43, Arizona 32, TCU 11, Navy 10, South Carolina 10, Illinois 9, Oklahoma State 8, Vanderbilt 8, Pittsburgh 7, Virginia Tech 6, Minnesota 5, UNLV 4, New Mexico 4, Georgia Tech 4, Louisiana 4, James Madison 3, Auburn 3, Memphis 2, California 2, Liberty 1, Western Michigan 1, Tulane 1, Virginia 1.
In Other News...
PFFs SEC QB Ranking Gives Ole Miss Fans A Real Argument
Preseason quarterback lists always invite debate, but this one gave Ole Miss fans an especially easy place to start. PFF put Auburn transfer Byrum Brown at the top of its SEC rankings with a 91.5 grade, sliding Trinidad Chambliss just behind him even after Chambliss helped lead the Rebels all the way to a College Football Playoff semifinal last season.
The wrinkle, of course, is in how the grades are built. Browns number was driven by his work at USF in the American Conference, while Chambliss did his damage in the SEC, where every week brings a different level of stress and speed. PFFs system leans hard on raw production, but for Ole Miss, the bigger question is whether a ranking like this can really separate numbers from the conference grind that helped shape them. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Sent A Message About Life After Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss spent the offseason answering a simple but meaningful question: what does the program look like after Lane Kiffin? The early answer is strong enough to keep the Rebels squarely in the national conversation, with a No. 9 spot in the 2026 preseason AP Poll and another year opening inside the top 10. It is the fifth straight season Ole Miss has started ranked, and only the third time since 1971 it has done so in the preseason top 10.
The ranking also reflects how much the Rebels accomplished in a turbulent year. They finished 2025 with 13 wins, reached the College Football Playoff for the first time and won two games in that bracket before falling in the national semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl. Pete Golding, who took over after Kiffins departure, guided the team through the playoff run, and now the real test is whether Ole Miss can make this feel less like a transition year and more like the start of its next era. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Missed On A Quarterback Target Fans Should Know
Kaden Craft, a four-star quarterback from North Carolina, is off the board in the 2028 recruiting class, and it is a notable swing-and-miss for Ole Miss. The Lake Norman High School standout is ranked as the No. 8 quarterback nationally in his class, giving him the kind of profile that always draws attention from programs looking to stay ahead in the quarterback pipeline.
Craft ultimately settled on Tennessee, leaving Ole Miss, Michigan and Florida to keep searching for their next young signal-caller. For a staff trying to build out future plans at the position, the appeal was clear enough for Craft to make an early decision, and the Rebels now have to turn that effort toward the next name on the board. [Read more 🡒]