Ole Miss opens season No. 9 in AP Poll

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OXFORD – Ole Miss is ranked No. 9 in the 2026 preseason AP Poll, which was released Monday morning. It is the fifth straight season the Rebels will open the season ranked, and it is just the third time since 1971 that Ole Miss is ranked in the preseason top 10.

The Rebels are coming off a record 13 wins in 2025, which included the program’s first trip to the College Football Playoff. Under head coach Pete Golding – who took over at the conclusion of the regular season following Lane Kiffin’s departure for LSU – Ole Miss won a pair of CFP games before falling in the national semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl to Miami.

Golding has plenty of talent in tow for his first full year as head coach, headlined by the Heisman Trophy-contending backfield of sixth-year quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and junior running back Kewan Lacy. Chambliss finished eighth in 2025 Heisman Trophy voting, throwing for 3,937 yards and 22 touchdowns while adding 527 yards and eight touchdowns rushing. Lacy tied the school’s single-season record with 1,567 rushing yards and set a new record with 24 rushing scores, becoming Ole Miss’ first Doak Walker Award finalist.

Ole Miss also boasts its share of stars on defense, led by junior defensive linemen Will Echoles and Kam Franklin and senior linebacker Suntarine Perkins. The Rebels also added the nation’s No. 2 transfer portal class this offseason, according to 247Sports, which includes linebackers Luke Ferrelli and Keaton Thomas and wide receivers Johntay Cook II and Horatio Fields.

The Rebels have the No. 5 most-difficult schedule in the nation this season, according to ESPN’s College Football Power Index. The schedule includes home matchups with LSU, Georgia and Mississippi State and road games at Florida, Texas and Oklahoma. Ole Miss opens its season on Sept. 6 in Nashville against Louisville in the 2026 Liberty Mutual Music City Kickoff.

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