The Ole Miss Rebels have found its 2026 season opener opponent – landing a home-and-home with an ACC foe
The Ole Miss Rebels and Pitt Panthers are finalizing an agreement to play the season opener in 2026 in Oxford, Miss. It was officially reported by 247Sports’ Chase Parham. Pittsburgh athletics director Allen Greene spent a few years of his career at Ole Miss – assistant athletics director from 2009-2012 and Senior Deputy AD with […]
The Ole Miss Rebels and Pitt Panthers are finalizing an agreement to play the season opener in 2026 in Oxford, Miss. It was officially reported by 247Sports’ Chase Parham. Pittsburgh athletics director Allen Greene spent a few years of his career at Ole Miss – assistant athletics director from 2009-2012 and Senior Deputy AD with the Rebels in 2022-2023.
Multiple sources tell 247Sports the second leg of the home-and-home series will send Ole Miss to Pittsburgh in 2030. The SEC will be implementing a nine-game conference schedule in 2026 – in doing so will have the 16 member institutions play three non-conference games instead of three.
Lane Kiffin and the Rebels figured it would go ahead and snag one for next season with the Panthers from the ACC.
Ole Miss Rebels News
No. 20 Ole Miss proves its worth with a nice road response against Kentucky
It was a shaky start for first-year starter Austin Simmons, but the Ole Miss defense and run game helped the Rebels get a big-time SEC road win and move to 2-0. Head coach Lane Kiffin was visibly exhausted but very complimentary of his young team. “Really proud of our guys, coming on the road in […]
Ole Miss and Pittsburgh have met one time.
In 2013, the two faced off in the BBVA Compass Bowl in Birmingham, Ala. It was Hugh Freeze’s first season as head coach in Oxford and the Rebels dominated the Panthers to the tune of 38-17. Former Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace was named MVP after throwing for 151 yards and three touchdowns.
59,135 fans – most of them Rebel fans – set a bowl attendance record at Legion Field on an overcast, dreary day.
Now, the two will face off next season to start the year off for the second meeting all-time. The other two 2026 non-conference foes are Charlotte and Wofford. The game against the 49ers will be September 12 and the battle with the Terriers will be November 21.
Ole Miss is 2-0 after a hard-fought road win Saturday versus Kentucky.
Kiffin was pleased with the effort and toughness through adversity after falling behind 10-0 early.
“Really proud of our guys, coming on the road in the SEC and winning is a hard thing to do,” Kiffin said. “You play four of these, for now, you play four every year and they’re hard. So it’s like you just have a relief to cross them off and get wins on the road.
“Proud of our guys. We started poor, we’re down 10-0. Guys made a heck of a play to convert the 4th down otherwise it’s 10-0 and they’re gonna have the ball in our territory. You guys know we play aggressive, but it takes players to make the plays,” Kiffin said. “That really, to me, that was a big turn. They’re gonna get the ball back, up 10-0. From there we go on a 30-10 run to the last field goal there at the end. So proud of our guys, how they played wasn’t perfect.”
