With college football’s talking season finally giving way to actual games this weekend, CBS Sports added one last layer to the SEC quarterback conversation after every league team wrapped up its competition under center this week.
The outlet released its full 1-16 ranking of the conference’s quarterbacks entering 2026, and Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss landed at No. 1, with Texas star Arch Manning right behind him at No. 2.
CBS Sports put LSU’s Sam Leavitt at No. 3, followed by Georgia’s Gunner Stockton at No. 4 and South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers at No. 5.
Oklahoma’s John Mateer came in at No. 6, while Alabama’s Keelon Russell checked in at No. 7.
The rest of the top 16 rounded out with Auburn’s Byrum Brown at No. 8, Texas A&M’s Marcel Reed at No.
9, Tennessee’s Faizon Brandon at No. 10, Mississippi State’s Kamario Taylor at No.
11, Florida’s Aaron Philo at No. 12, Kentucky’s Kenny Minchey at No.
13, Arkansas’ KJ Jackson at No. 14, Missouri’s Austin Simmons at No. 15 and Vanderbilt’s Blaze Berlowitz at No.
A few details jump off the page. With Chambliss and Manning leading the way, five of the top six quarterbacks are returning starters for their teams, and only three quarterbacks in that upper group have remained in place behind them.
Leavitt is the highest-ranked transfer at No. 3, with Brown next among transfers at No. 8.
Russell is the top quarterback on the list who did not start last season, and Brandon’s placement at No. 10 stands out too. Even though he has never taken a collegiate snap, CBS Sports ranked him ahead of several quarterbacks who have started for major programs, including Taylor, Philo, Jackson and Simmons.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Just Lost A Controversial Roster Path The SEC Targeted
The SEC and Big Ten have drawn a much harder line on roster construction, moving to prohibit member schools from keeping players who have declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA drafts and did not withdraw, along with anyone who has signed a pro contract or landed on a professional roster. The new rules were finalized after conference leaders met to settle the issue, and they come with punishments for programs that try to work around them.
For Ole Miss, it is another reminder that the loophole chase around modern roster management is getting narrower. The policy shift was influenced in part by LSUs attempt to roster former NFL players DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris, a move that helped push the leagues toward a clearer standard. LSU abstained from the final vote, but the broader message was unmistakable: the SEC wanted this path closed, and now it is. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Added Another Ranking Fans Will Fully Embrace
Ole Miss has a new ranking to hang its hat on, and it is one plenty of fans around Oxford will welcome with a grin. USA TODAY recently tabbed the University of Mississippi as the 10th best party school in the country, using an average of seven published lists to come up with the ranking, and the Rebels landed with a party score of 13.3.
It is the kind of outside-the-lines recognition that has long fit the schools national image, even if it is only one part of what makes the Ole Miss brand so recognizable. And with the 2026 football season already on the horizon, including the opening game and start date on the schedule, the spotlight around the program figures to keep building in more ways than one. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Offense Just Got A Massive 2026 Statement
ESPNs preseason look at the top college football players entering 2026 brought an especially bright spotlight to Oxford, where Ole Miss landed two of the SECs highest-ranked names. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss checked in at No. 5 and running back Kewan Lacy followed at No. 6, a strong sign that the Rebels offense is being viewed as one of the most dangerous in the country before the new season even begins.
For Ole Miss, the placement is about more than individual recognition. It reflects the kind of firepower the Rebels showed last season and the level of expectation that now comes with it, especially with Chambliss and Lacy both carrying major weight in what the offense can become next. When a team puts two players that high on a national list, the conversation shifts quickly from promise to pressure, and Ole Miss is very much in that spot heading into 2026. [Read more 🡒]