The Ole Miss Rebels are coming off a deep playoff run last season. In the first year under head coach Pete Golding, the expectations will be higher than they have ever been in Oxford, especially with quarterback Trinidad Chambliss returning. The stars feel like they could be aligning. 

To begin the offseason, ESPN released an early top-25 ranking, which had Ole Miss rated as the No. 9 team in college football heading into the 2026 season. After some spring buzz and reactions the past couple of weeks, Mark Schlabach redid that ranking. The Rebels held steady with that No. 9 ranking, which doesn’t typically happen this time of the year.

Here is what Schlabach wrote about the Rebels and their expectations heading into the 2026 season.

9. Ole Miss Rebels

2025 record: 13-2, 7-1 SEC

Previous ranking: 9

Key players lost: WR De’Zhaun Stribling, WR Harrison Wallace III, TE Dae’Quan Wright, OT Jayden Williams, DT Zxavian Harris, FS Wydette Williams Jr., LB TJ Dottery, G Devin Harper, DE Princewill Umanmielen

Key additions: QB Deuce Knight (Auburn), TE Brady Prieskorn (Michigan), OT Carius Curne (LSU), S Joenel Aguero (Georgia), CB Sharif Denson (Florida), DL Michai Boireau (Florida), CB Jay Crawford (Auburn), S Edwin Joseph (Florida State)

2026 outlook: Pete Golding took over for Lane Kiffin and directed the Rebels to the CFP semifinals last season. Then he helped them re-sign many of their best players, including All-SEC tailback Kewan Lacy and defensive tackle Will Echoles. The Rebels won a long court battle against the NCAA to get star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss another season of eligibility. The offense might operate at an even faster pace under new coordinator John David Baker. Young receivers will have to step up, and the Rebels will have to identify two new offensive tackles. Losing Umanmielen’s production on the edge hurts, and the Rebels added Blake Purchase (Oregon) and Jordan Renaud (Alabama) to help.

Why you should buy into Ole Miss  

While there isn’t a huge sample size of Golding as a head coach for Ole Miss, they did show some great signs under him during their playoff run. The team is also returning a nice mix of proven talent in 2026, including quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, running back Kewan Lacy, wide receiver Deuce Alexander, defensive tackle Will Echoles, and defensive end Kam Franklin, among others. The Rebels have a lot of money behind them, which is always going to allow them to go out and inject the roster with more talent.

Retaining Chambliss was the biggest win this offseason for Ole Miss for obvious reasons. Whenever you have a dynamic quarterback behind center, you are going to have a chance. There is a reason to believe that Chambliss could be even better with an offseason as the full-time starter for the team.

What could hold the Rebels back?

There is just no definite understanding of how this team will respond to Golding as the full-time head coach. He walked into a great group of players last season, but this is now his team to manage from start to finish, so it is a question mark. As always, Ole Miss had to dip into the transfer portal, so it’ll be interesting to see how well the 2026 version of this team meshes.