Ole Miss is back in the preseason conversation in a big way.
The Rebels checked in at No. 10 in the Aug. 4 release of the US LBM Coaches Poll, giving Pete Golding’s team a spot among the nation’s top 10 as it heads into the 2026 season. Ohio State opened at No. 1, and Ole Miss did not receive any of the six first-place votes.
Golding is set for his first full season leading the program after taking over following the regular season in 2025, when Lane Kiffin left for LSU. Ole Miss kept rolling under Golding, winning two College Football Playoff games before the run ended with a Fiesta Bowl loss to Miami in the CFP semifinals.
Even with Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. gone, the Rebels still drew plenty of national respect. Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy are both back, giving Ole Miss a strong offensive foundation. The Rebels also attacked the portal hard, landing the No. 2-ranked transfer class to help replace what departed from the 2025 roster.
The ranking also reflects just how stacked the SEC looks at the top. Georgia sits at No.
3, Texas at No. 4, Texas A&M at No. 8 and Oklahoma at No. 9, all ahead of Ole Miss.
The Rebels will see three of those teams on the field in 2026, with Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma all on the schedule. They also have matchups against LSU, which came in at No. 13, and Missouri at No.
Ole Miss opens the season against Louisville on Sept. 6 in Nashville, Tennessee, in a neutral-site game at the Titans’ Nissan Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on ABC. Louisville was the highest-ranked team among those outside the poll.
The top of the preseason rankings features Ohio State, Oregon, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame and Indiana, followed by Miami, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Ole Miss. Alabama is just behind the Rebels at No. 11, with Texas Tech, LSU, Southern Cal and BYU rounding out the next cluster.
Among the teams that fell out of the rankings from the previous poll were Vanderbilt, Virginia, Tulane, James Madison, Navy, Georgia Tech and Illinois. Louisville, Florida, TCU, Arizona, South Carolina and several others were among the teams receiving votes.
In Other News...
Herbstreit Just Raised The Stakes Around LSU And Ole Miss
Trinidad Chambliss has quickly become one of the most interesting names in the Ole Miss conversation, and Kirk Herbstreit only turned up the heat with his latest praise for the quarterbacks breakout 2025 season. Herbstreit pointed to Chambliss ability to make plays through the air and on the ground, a blend that has given the Rebels a dynamic presence as they look to build on last years momentum.
For Ole Miss, the timing matters because the margin in the SEC can get thin fast, and every bit of optimism around Chambliss feeds the bigger picture of a team trying to get back to the College Football Playoff. The LSU angle hangs over it too, with Lane Kiffin keeping both programs in the same orbit for reasons that go beyond one quarterbacks rise, which only adds another layer to what already feels like a season-defining stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Gets Its First Real Hype Test Under Pete Golding
The first real measure of where Ole Miss stands under Pete Golding arrives Monday, when the 2026 US LBM College Football Coaches preseason Top 25 poll is set to be released. USA TODAY Sports will unveil the rankings live on YouTube with analysis from college football experts, and the Rebels are widely expected to be part of the conversation as they enter the first season of the Golding era.
For Ole Miss, the number next to its name will matter less than the message it sends about the programs national footing entering a schedule that already includes Louisville, Charlotte, LSU and Florida. A preseason ranking would put an early spotlight on how quickly Golding has kept the Rebels in the top-tier discussion, even before the games begin to sort out the contenders from the hopefuls. [Read more 🡒]
John David Baker Faces Huge Ole Miss Pressure Right Away
Pete Golding is settling in for his first full season in charge of the Ole Miss defense, and the other sideline half of the equation now belongs to John David Baker. Baker has been named offensive coordinator after helping reshape East Carolinas offense before coming back to Oxford, where he inherits a group built around quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy. It is a familiar kind of Ole Miss assignment: plenty of speed, plenty of expectations, and very little patience for a slow start.
Bakers challenge is not simply keeping the operation moving, but making sure the Rebels stay efficient as the offense adjusts to a slightly different identity. The tempo should still be there, but the load is expected to tilt more toward the ground game than it did a year ago, which puts a premium on getting the details right early. For a coordinator returning to a place that knows him well, the pressure arrives fast, and the first answers will matter just as much as the scheme. [Read more 🡒]