Ole Miss enters 2026 with big expectations after a 13-2 season and multiple College Football Playoff wins, but the Rebels also drew one of the nastiest schedules in the SEC. Pete Golding has inherited a roster built to compete, yet the path ahead is packed with land mines.
The game that stands out most is the trip to Texas.
That matchup in Austin looks like the hardest test on the calendar for Ole Miss, even with conference showdowns against LSU, Georgia and Mississippi State on the schedule and road trips to Oklahoma and Texas looming. Texas is the one opponent that checks every box for a nightmare matchup.
Steve Sarkisian’s team missed the CFP last season, but Texas spent the offseason reloading in a major way. The Longhorns kept 12 starters and added some of the top names in the transfer portal, including Cam Coleman, the highest-rated wide receiver.
That kind of talent shows up everywhere. Texas has a balanced offense with Arch Manning running the show, dangerous receivers and running backs who can turn one play into a chunk gain, and a defense led by Colin Simmons, one of the sport’s best pass rushers. The Longhorns also have a star at every level of the field.
Then there’s the venue. Since Texas joined the conference in 2024, Georgia is the only team to beat the Longhorns at home. DKR-Memorial Stadium has been a tough place to survive, and Ole Miss will need a clean game and an early answer to the crowd if it wants a shot.
If the Rebels are going to make another CFP run in 2026, Texas may be the team that decides whether they get there. The ideal setup would be Ole Miss walking into Austin unbeaten, with a chance to land a huge statement win. If the Rebels can get that one, the pressure to finish the rest of the way drops fast.
Trinidad Chambliss has already battled through plenty to become one of college football’s best players, and Ole Miss has shown it can handle tough odds. But Texas is a different kind of problem.
In Other News...
Pete Golding Sees One Big Ole Miss Edge In NCAA Change
The NCAAs new five-year, age-based eligibility rule is already drawing a strong reaction from Pete Golding, who sees it as a cleaner way to manage a roster and a better fit for how college football actually works now. Instead of the old redshirt setup, players will have five seasons to play over a five-year window from enrollment or age 19, and Golding likes the flexibility that gives a program like Ole Miss when it comes to developing talent and keeping the depth chart moving.
For the Rebels, the biggest upside may be in how freely they can use gifted freshmen without feeling like every snap comes with a long-term cost. It also could help Ole Miss hold onto experienced players a little longer, since the extra eligibility gives coaches more room to think beyond the immediate season and into future roster planning. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Golding Changed What Ole Miss Believes It Can Be
Pete Goldings rise at Ole Miss has already altered the way the program talks about itself. In one run, the Rebels reached territory they had never quite touched before, winning a playoff game at home for the first time and then carrying that momentum into a Sugar Bowl victory over Georgia, a result that helped them stand as the last SEC team left in the bracket. For a program that has spent so much of its modern life chasing the leagues top tier, that kind of January mattered just as much as any recruiting splash.
Now comes the harder part: proving it was not a one-off. Ole Miss enters the 2026 season with a strong transfer portal position, but Goldings first full year also brings a demanding schedule and the kind of road tests that quickly reveal whether a breakthrough has real staying power. The Rebels have already shown they can reach places the program had not visited in decades, and the next step is finding out whether they can stay there. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Has One Unit That Could Decide Everything This Season
Ole Miss has reason to feel good about the front of its offense heading into the new season. Three interior linemen are back in Brycen Sanders, Delano Townsend and Patrick Kutas, a group that helped power a rushing attack that was already a strength a year ago. Add in the fact that John David Baker is taking over as offensive coordinator with plans to lean even more heavily on the run, and the line suddenly looks like one of the clearest tone-setters on the roster.
The Rebels did not stop there, either, bringing in two tackles through the transfer portal in Carius Curne and Terez Davis to help shore up the edges. For a team trying to build around physicality and balance, that combination of continuity and new blood gives this unit a chance to shape the whole season. The only real question now is how quickly the newcomers settle in, because the answer could determine just how far this offense can go. [Read more 🡒]