Yahoo Sports' Preseason College Football Top 25: How will No. 9 Ole Miss fare in its first year after Lane Kiffin?
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College football officially begins this month.
Now that it's August, there are just weeks to go until Week Zero arrives on Aug. 29, and since the season is quickly approaching, we're rolling out our preseason top 25.
After revealing our teams in the back half of our top 25, we continue our previews of the top 12 teams in the country with a team that was a game away from the national championship a season ago.
Previously: Teams Nos. 13-25, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 11 Alabama, No. 10 Texas A&M
No. 9 Ole Miss
2025 record: 13-2
National championship odds: 25-1
Odds to make College Football Playoff: +175
2025 in less than 100 words
It is impossible to briefly summarize the 2025 Ole Miss season. Austin Simmons was named the Week 1 starter at QB, but his ankle injury opened the door for Ferris State transfer Trinidad Chambliss. The Rebels started the season 6-0 as Chambliss solidified himself as Ole Miss' starter but lost 43-35 to Georgia. That game, however, ended up being Ole Miss' only regular-season loss as the Rebels beat Oklahoma and then won four more games against unranked opponents to finish the season 11-1 and securely in the College Football Playoff.
That's when things went haywire. LSU made it clear that Lane Kiffin was its man after firing Brian Kelly. Kiffin attempted to have the best of both worlds and take the LSU job while also staying at Ole Miss to coach in the playoff. Ole Miss, understandably, didn't want that to happen. Days of drama finally culminated with Kiffin leaving for Baton Rouge unable to coach the Rebels in the postseason.
Defensive coordinator Pete Golding was promoted to head coach as assistants who followed Kiffin to LSU stayed to help coach the Rebels in the playoff. Ole Miss blew out Tulane in the first round of the CFP before beating Georgia 39-34 in a Sugar Bowl thriller that made Chambliss a bona fide star. The Rebels hung tough with Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, but fell 31-27 to the Hurricanes a game short of the national championship.
The QB
Trinidad Chambliss
The above section didn't even include the eligibility drama that swirled surrounding Chambliss' ability to play in 2026. A Mississippi judge ruled in February that Chambliss would be eligible for the upcoming season after Chambliss had been twice denied a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA.
After redshirting in 2021 and not playing in 2022, Chambliss argued that he should have received a medical redshirt while dealing with health issues. The NCAA did not agree with that stance, and said that Chambliss' final season of eligibility would be 2025.
Thanks to the injunction, Chambliss begins the 2026 season as a Heisman favorite. A season ago, he was 294 of 445 passing for 3,937 yards and 22 TDs to just three interceptions. He also rushed for 527 yards and eight touchdowns.
Those stats are why he's the No. 3 favorite to win the Heisman at +900 and only behind Notre Dame's CJ Carr and Texas' Arch Manning. Chambliss may not get the first-round NFL Draft hype that others will throughout the season, but he's going to be one of the most productive QBs in the country once again.
Eric Edholm's 2027 NFL Draft prospect to watch
DT Will Echoles
RB Kewan Lacy is a complete-package prospect who has RB1 potential, and Chambliss will be an intriguing prospect in his final season. But Echoles feels like the best combination of high floor and solid ceiling as a prospect, along with a higher positional value. The 6-foot-3, 315-pound Echoles can win in a variety of ways, including with good power, excellent lateral quickness and natural finishing and ball-finding GPS. He might not dominate quite as much as you'd hope, but Echoles can beat you in a lot of ways and has the upside to be one of the top two or three interior defenders in next year's class, and a possible first-round pick.
College Fantasy Football player to watch
RB Kewan Lacy
This one's pretty obvious, isn't it?
Lacy is the No. 1 running back in Yahoo Sports' fantasy rankings after his fantastic 2025 season. Lacy was the epitome of a bellcow back with 306 carries for 1,567 yards and 24 touchdowns. He led the country in rushing attempts, was third in rushing yardage and was only behind former North Texas and current Oklahoma State running back Caleb Hawkins in rushing touchdowns.
Chambliss was the only other player to run the ball frequently a season ago. He had 133 carries. Ole Miss' No. 2 RB was Logan Diggs. He had a paltry 33 rushing attempts.
It's probably a good idea for the Rebels to find Lacy a complementary teammate in 2026. And Ole Miss' depth behind him should be better with the arrival of Makhi Frazier from Michigan State. But Frazier isn't going to challenge Lacy for top billing in Ole Miss' offense, and it's easy to think that Lacy will be just as productive even if he gets four or five fewer carries per game. Lacy did get a little banged up down the stretch as Ole Miss played in 15 games.
Biggest game
Sept. 19 vs. LSU
No explanation needed on this one either. Kiffin's return to Oxford is going to be one of the biggest games of the year. It's already an incredibly tough ticket, and it's hard to see ticket prices getting much cheaper in the days and weeks ahead of the game. Especially if LSU and Ole Miss are both 2-0.
Kiffin's departure from Ole Miss to LSU is going to be the dominant theme of the evening. But the game has huge stakes even if you try to remove him from the equation. Both teams have serious playoff hopes. The winner has an early leg up in the race for the postseason and the loser's margin for error tightens considerably.
Why Ole Miss is No. 9
Ole Miss' preseason win total may seem a bit confusing. Even though the Rebels are better than +200 to get to the College Football Playoff, their over/under is just 7.5 wins. That speaks to a schedule that includes trips to Florida, Texas and Oklahoma and also includes a home game against Georgia. Oh, and that massive Week 3 matchup against LSU.
There's a way you can see this season going sideways for Ole Miss. But we certainly don't see it that way and like the Rebels' chances of a fourth-straight 10-win season.
Even if you think the Ole Miss offense will take a step back without Kiffin in charge, it's still going to be very good with Chambliss, Lacy and another deep group of receiving options. The defense, meanwhile, could be even better, even with the departure of Princewill Umanmielen.
Golding added linebackers Luke Ferrelli and Keaton Thomas through the transfer portal, and Clemson is salty about Ferrelli's arrival. He initially transferred to the Tigers, but flipped his commitment to Ole Miss after coach Dabo Swinney accused Golding of tampering.
You can understand why Clemson was unhappy to lose Ferrelli. He had 91 tackles and five tackles for loss as a freshman at Cal in 2025. Thomas, who started his career at West Virginia, had 105 tackles and seven tackles for loss at Baylor a season ago.
Transfers like Sharif Denson and Joenel Aguero add to the depth in the secondary too. After opponents gained 5.2 yards a play in 2025, that number should be closer to the 4.5 it was in 2024. And if it is — and the offense doesn't crater — Ole Miss should be back in the playoff again.
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