With three games left in the regular season, Ole Miss is sitting in the driver’s seat for a spot to compete for a national championship. Lane Kiffin’s Rebels came in at No. 6 in the debut College Football Playoff poll of the 2025-26 campaign, with a chance to do what last year’s superteam could not.
If the playoff were to begin today, Ole Miss (8-1, 5-1 SEC) would host Virginia in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in the opening round. Action for the 12-team field is scheduled to kick off with one game on Friday, Dec. 19, while three other contests occur the next day. The top four teams will earn a first-round bye.
A peculiar season, in which Ole Miss lost its starting quarterback early on, did not cause the Rebels to flinch. When Austin Simmons, a talented southpaw who spent two years learning under now-New York Giants signal-caller Jaxson Dart, suffered an ankle injury in the fourth quarter of a week-two outing at Kentucky, the Rebels turned to former Division II national champion Trinidad Chambliss to commandeer the offense — and the team did not miss a beat.
Chambliss had an instant impact on the field, leading the red and blue to a 41-35 victory over Arkansas. From there, his star continued to shine. Chambliss’ efforts aided in following Ole Miss wins over Tulane, LSU, Washington State, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, while showing out for three quarters in a loss to Georgia. In six of seven starts, Chambliss had more than 250 passing yards. To date, he has 2023 yards in the air, 10 touchdowns, and only two picks.
In the passing game, Chambliss has been aided by a cornucopia of weapons. Wideouts Harrison Wallace III and Deuce Alexander have been the top targets, amassing 938 yards and three touchdowns collectively. Tight end Dae’Quan Wright has been a reliable asset in the air, mounting 436 yards and four touchdowns, while freshman receiver Winston Watkins Jr. has been a welcome addition.
One area where Ole Miss struggled one year ago was the ground attack, and that has been rectified this year. Missouri transfer Kewan Lacy has revolutionized Kiffin’s rushing game and has been a force all year. Lacy has logged an SEC second-best 863 yards on the ground and has found the end zone 13 times. A slippery back, he has forced a nation’s second-best 65 tackles. Chambliss has also been an asset in the run game, recording 435 yards and six touchdowns.
Defensively, Pete Golding’s group has ebbed and flowed, but the unit seemingly found its identity in the two most recent outings. At Oklahoma, edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen had a coming-out of sorts as he made life difficult for Sooner quarterback John Mateer. Umanmielen’s team-high 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss carried over into the South Carolina matchup, where the Rebels had a season-best six sacks and eight tackles for loss.
The most underrated assets to this Ole Miss team have arguably been the offensive line holding up and consistency in the kicking game. The offensive front has been resilient all year, limiting sacks and negative plays. Meanwhile, plucking reigning CUSA Special Teams Player of the Year Lucas Carneiro from Western Kentucky has paid dividends. Carneiro, thus far, has made 19 of 21 kicks, with his longest coming from 54 yards out. He is also a perfect 32 of 32 on extra-point attempts.
Ole Miss is certainly in a position to make history by one, winning 11 regular-season games for the first time, and two, making a playoff debut. Nonetheless, the Rebels will have to win their next three games — the Citadel, Florida, and Mississippi State — before popping the celebratory champagne.
The full College Football Playoff rankings can be found below:
- Ohio State
- Indiana
- Texas A&M
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Ole Miss
- BYU
- Texas Tech
- Oregon
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Utah
- Virginia
- Louisville
- Vanderbilt
- Georgia Tech
- Miami
- USC
- Iowa
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Washington
- Pittsburgh
- Tennessee
The rankings will be updated next Tuesday, Nov. 11.
