The Ole Miss Rebels will be without head coach Lane Kiffin as they enter the program's first College Football Playoff ever. New head coach Pete Golding will do his best to rally his boys around the team's accomplishments this season and not the daunting Kiffin-less task ahead of them.
Despite potentially qualifying for the selection committee's penalty for losing a top player or coach (see Florida State's Jordan Travis in 2023), Ole Miss was slotted into the 6-seed and will get an opportunity to prove the players can execute despite the brains of the operation being absent. That being said, the Rebels will still need the football gods to do them a couple favors to win the whole damn thing.
THE 12-TEAM CFP BRACKET IS SET‼️
— ESPN (@espn) December 7, 2025
Did your team make the cut? 🤔@CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/tkdTkChBrg
What Ole Miss needs to win the CFP
First round: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 Tulane
This is going to be an interesting rematch for the Rebels and Green Wave. Both teams met in Oxford on Sept. 20 where Ole Miss handily whooped Tulane 45-10. Now, a lot of football has taken place since then and you could argue these are two very different teams from those that faced off at the beginning of the season. However, that shouldn't make too much of a difference on the gridiron.
Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns in that matchup while also rushing for an additional 112 yards. Tulane's defense is porous and won't stand a chance against this SEC powerhouse on the road.
Quarterfinal at the Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Georgia
Here's where the biggest test will be. Ole Miss fell to Georgia 43-35 when it traveled to Athens in mid-October but there were plenty of signs the Rebels could've pulled off the upset. Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy's 1,279 rush yards were good for second in the SEC and ninth nationwide. He'll be facing the fourth-best rushing defense in the country.
That means Chambliss will have to resort to throwing more. Georgia allows 205.3 yards per game while Chambliss averages 251.3 per game (he dropped 263 yards on the Bulldogs earlier this year). Ole Miss boasts a Top 20 passing defense and if it can stifle Georgia QB Gunnar Stockton, victory is very much within reach.
Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 7 Texas A&M
This is where the Rebels will need the football gods to step in. It's unlikely they could keep up with No. 2 Ohio State despite how the Buckeye appeared against Indiana. They'll hope their SEC neighbor in No. 7 Texas A&M can pull the upset and meet up in Phoenix.
The two programs did not meet in the regular season this year so this matchup poses a rather interesting hypothetical. Both are excellent on defense against the pass and possess rather capable passers. This is where Lacy's rushing abilities could be the Rebels' secret weapon to carry them into the national championship.
National championship: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 8 Oklahoma
I said Ole Miss' path to a national championship was plausible but not entirely realistic. The football gods have to have a heavy hand in things. There's no way the Rebels can take on anyone else on that side of the bracket like Indiana, Oregon or Texas Tech. James Madison isn't advancing out of the first round so that leaves Oklahoma to beat Alabama like it did last month and pull off massive upsets in the next two rounds.
Ole Miss and Oklahoma met on Oct. 25 and the Rebels left Norman with a 34-26 victory. On the biggest stage, they can do that all over again. It's literally the only way they can lift the national championship trophy. Now let us pray to the football gods.