Ole Miss is squarely in the mix of teams that control their own postseason destiny, as the Rebels came in at No. 10 in the first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026-27 season.
If the playoff were to begin today, Ole Miss would travel to Austin for a rematch against Texas in the opening round. The winner would face Georgia in the quarterfinals.
Ole Miss (6-2, 4-2 SEC) has had a mostly positive start to Golding’s debut year as head coach. The red and blue squeaked by Louisville in the season opener before ousting Charlotte and downing former Ole Miss frontman Lane Kiffin and his LSU Tigers at home before suffering a 24-point loss at Florida.
The Rebels responded resiliently to the defeat and rattled off a 35-point win at Vanderbilt, followed by a 28-point home win over a Missouri team featuring former Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons, wide receiver Cayden Lee, and defensive back Chris Graves.
The momentum garnered in the two wins was not enough to will the Rebels to a road victory over a Texas team that had suffered two consecutive defeats and was in dire need of a return to the win column. The pain of the loss did not linger long, as Ole Miss battled back with a 30-point win over Auburn.
Notable stat leaders for the Rebels include star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who has completed 189 of 296 passes for 2,189 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. His top target up to this point has been Deuce Alexander, who has caught 48 passes for 669 yards and 5 scores. Defensively, Baylor transfer Keaton Thomas has excelled at linebacker, logging 52 total tackles and a forced fumble. Oregon transfer Blake Purchase leads the team in sacks with 4.5.
The full College Football Playoff poll can be found below:
- Miami
- Georgia
- Utah
- Indiana
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Texas
- UCLA
- BYU
- Ole Miss
- Notre Dame
- Ohio State
- Tennessee
- LSU
- Texas Tech
- Wake Forest
- Houston
- Missouri
- Iowa
- USC
- South Carolina
- Arizona
- Oregon
- Florida
- Boise State
Ole Miss will have a golden opportunity to solidify itself as a playoff contender or find itself on the outside looking in the rest of the way when No. 2 Georgia rolls into Oxford on Saturday. The Rebels and Bulldogs will kick off at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at 6:30 p.m. CT. ABC and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations will handle the broadcast.