The Pete Golding era is off to a strong start at Ole Miss, with the Rebels assembling a strong transfer portal class with multiple immediate impact players joining the roster. The Rebels’ new head coach won a pair of College Football Playoff games in the 2025 season, and expectations remain high for 2026 as well.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss’ 2026 football schedule was unveiled on Dec. 11, which is being viewed as one of the most challenging in the country.
Pete Golding Braces for a Long Season as Ole Miss’ Schedule Raises Red Flags
On the latest episode of the Cover 3 podcast, Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli, Danny Kanell, and Bud Elliott addressed a question from an Ole Miss fan asking which fan bases may have unrealistic expectations heading into the 2026 season. The fan also expressed concern about the program’s newly elevated standard and the possibility that a historically strong team could still fall short of expectations.
“On the Ole Miss point before we pivot off to other nominations,” Elliott said. “That’s a hard schedule. Like I don’t know that they’re favored over Louisville to open the year.”
Patterson followed by saying that Ole Miss benefited from favorable scheduling the previous two seasons, as the SEC repeated many of the same opponents in 2024 and 2025.
“You did not cash it in all the way in 2024 because of the losses to Florida and Kentucky,” Patterson said. “You did cash it in, and you know, a credit to Ole Miss for that. But yeah, it’s time to pay the piper on uh on the schedule rotation.”
The Rebels will open the 2026 season against Louisville in a neutral-site matchup at Nissan Stadium on Sept. 5. Ole Miss will play two road games within the first four weeks, including the opener against Louisville and a Week 4 trip to Florida on Sept. 26.
By the end of September, there should be a clearer picture of whether Ole Miss will be on track for another College Football Playoff push. One of the most crucial games on the schedule is the Sept. 19 matchup against LSU, which can be one of the most interesting SEC openers in recent memory.
Lane Kiffin’s controversial exit from Ole Miss to LSU last season during the Rebels’ playoff run will add more excitement to the storyline. Kiffin left after six successful seasons leading the Rebels. Under the SEC’s new nine-game conference format, Ole Miss will face LSU as well as Mississippi State and Oklahoma annually for the next four years.
The Rebels must also witness games against two of the SEC’s premier national title contenders in Texas and Georgia. With Auburn, Georgia, and Oklahoma on the horizon, the Oct. 24 game against Texas can be viewed as a must-win. Ole Miss will face Georgia on Nov. 7, in which the Rebels have claimed two wins in the last three meetings.
The regular season will end on Nov. 28 with the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State in Oxford. Ole Miss has won three straight Egg Bowl games. The PFSN College Football Playoff Meter gives the Rebels a 47.93% chance of making the playoff in 2026.
