Ole Miss is about to step into another SEC opener with LSU, and the Rebels have a recent history that swings from heartbreak to statement-making. Over the last 10 years, these first conference games have told a pretty clear story: Alabama usually meant trouble, while Kentucky gave Ole Miss some of its most dramatic nights.
The Rebels went 0-5 in SEC openers against Alabama in that span, with the narrowest miss coming in 2016, when Ole Miss lost by five points. Against the rest of the field, they picked up three wins - two over Kentucky and one over Arkansas - and dropped two more, one to Florida and one to Kentucky.
That 2016 meeting with Alabama still stands out because Ole Miss didn’t just hang around. The Rebels came out fast, with Akeem Judd throwing a 23-yard touchdown pass to put them up 7-0.
Alabama answered with a field goal, but Chad Kelly then found Evan Engram for another score, and Marquis Haynes blew up the next big moment by taking down Jalen Hurts at the Alabama 44 for -9 yards. John Youngblood scooped up the fumble and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown, and after another field goal, Ole Miss was up 24-3.
Alabama ripped right back with two straight touchdowns to close the gap to 24-17 at halftime, then took over the third quarter with 17 points while Ole Miss managed only 3. The Tide kept pressing in the fourth, scoring two touchdowns in two minutes to stretch the lead to 48-30.
Ole Miss answered with two touchdowns in less than a minute, but the comeback came too late. The final was 48-43.
Even in defeat, the Rebels outpassed Alabama, nearly matched the Tide in total yards and yards per play, and showed they could go toe-to-toe with a heavyweight.
The most painful SEC opener in the last decade came against Kentucky, when Ole Miss let a tight game slip away late in a matchup that was supposed to be part of a big season. The Rebels led 7-3 after the first quarter, then watched Kentucky take the second quarter and hold them scoreless to go up 10-7. Ole Miss responded in the third, reclaiming the lead, but Kentucky kept it close and trailed 17-13 heading into the fourth.
Then the game turned. Kentucky scored on a fumble recovery for a touchdown, and after the extra point Ole Miss was suddenly down 20-17 with 2:25 left.
The Rebels got the ball back at 1:37 and moved it eight plays before sending Caden Davis out for a 48-yard field goal. With 48 seconds left, the kick missed, and Vaught Hemingway Stadium felt it.
Ole Miss got Kentucky back in the 2025 SEC opener, winning 30-23.
The Rebels also handled a ranked Kentucky team in 2022, when No. 14 Ole Miss opened conference play against No.
7 Kentucky and leaned on Jaxon Dart in his first season with the program. Ole Miss jumped out to a 14-0 lead with two touchdowns, then Kentucky got on the board to start the second quarter and cut it to 14-6.
Tavius Robinson added another swing moment when he pressured Will Levis into a safety, pushing the lead to 16-6. Jonathan Cruz later drilled a 53-yard field goal, and Kentucky answered with a touchdown pass from Levis to make it 19-12 at halftime.
Kentucky tied it at 19 in the third quarter on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Levis to Jordan Dingle, but Cruz answered again, this time from 26 yards, to put Ole Miss back in front 22-19. Nobody scored in the fourth, and the Rebels walked away with a win over a ranked SEC opponent, finishing 4-4 in the conference and handing Kentucky one of its five losses.
Now Ole Miss heads into LSU with optimism and strength, hoping this opener can be another one that says something about where the season is headed. Pete Golding said at SEC Media Days that there are no hard feelings between him and the current LSU head coach, Lane Kiffin, and fans across Mississippi are already locked in on the matchup. The Rebels will get a tune-up against Louisville and Charlotte before facing the Tigers, so they should have a solid read on what they are capable of when that night arrives.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Just Got Hit With Another Brutal AJ Storr Twist
AJ Storrs time at Ole Miss may end up feeling even shorter than it first looked. The former Rebels guard has entered the transfer portal after being granted an additional year of eligibility through an injunction, setting up yet another roster shakeup for a program that has already had to navigate plenty of movement. Storr gave Ole Miss one productive season, averaging 15.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists across 35 games, and he was one of the more experienced scoring options on the floor.
Now the challenge is finding a landing spot for a player who suddenly has another season available, but is doing so late in the roster-building process. Many teams have already filled out most of their plans for the upcoming year, which makes Storrs next step less straightforward than a normal portal move. For Ole Miss, it leaves another familiar name on the move and another reminder of how quickly the modern college basketball landscape can change. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Faces A Massive Kewan Lacy Decision In 2026
Kewan Lacys 2025 season gave Ole Miss exactly the kind of backfield centerpiece every program wants, with program records in rushing yards and touchdowns and a nation-leading workload to go with it. As a true sophomore, he carried the offense in a way few players can, and now the Rebels are trying to figure out how to handle a player who has already proven he can be the focal point while still having another season of college football ahead.
Ole Miss has already added three transfer running backs for 2026, giving the staff a chance to lean into a deeper, more varied rotation if it wants to ease Lacys burden. The bigger picture is even more complicated: 2026 is expected to be his final college season before an NFL push, and some evaluators already see him as a top 2027 draft prospect. That leaves the Rebels balancing immediate production, long-term draft value and the question of how much wear they want to place on a runner theyll likely only have for one more year. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Rodgers Pulls Oklahoma Into A Huge SEC Big Ten Debate
Jordan Rodgers helped stir an old debate back into the spotlight this week, using Oklahoma as part of the larger conversation about where the SEC stands in relation to the Big Ten. The former Vanderbilt quarterback and ESPN analyst said the SEC still should be viewed as the nations strongest league, pointing to the conferences long run of national title success and the idea that it simply has more teams built to contend at the top.
The timing matters, too, with the upcoming 2026 schedule set to give SEC and Big Ten teams more chances to settle the argument on the field. For an Ole Miss audience, it is the kind of conference-wide discussion that never really goes away, especially when the postseason keeps narrowing the gap between perception and proof. Rodgers point was clear enough, but the next round of crossover games will go a long way toward showing whether the old hierarchy still holds. [Read more 🡒]