Less than three weeks separates Ole Miss football fans from the start of one of the most anticipated seasons in years, and the Rebels know it will have a heaping helping of expectations as it was picked No. 9 nationally by the Associated Press.
The 2026 AP Top 25 preseason poll was released on Monday, and the Rebels found themselves in the top ten after making it to the national semi-final of the College Football Playoffs last season.
Three SEC schools (Georgia, Texas and Texas A&M) were ranked higher, but the conference had nine teams in the preseason top 25 overall.
https://t.co/T23NtgfCyw
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) August 17, 2026
Ohio State and Oregon are 1-2 in the preseason poll while the SEC leads conferences with nine ranked teams. pic.twitter.com/KIcOlA5YyB
National champ Indiana was a few spots ahead of Ole Miss along with Miami at No. 7 who spoiled what was a magical postseason run for the Rebels.
Clearly, the media is buying into the hype of the Kewan Lacy and Trinidad Chambliss return coupled with the new look defense Pete Golding has assembled for this season. Golding has spoken seemingly very humble and honest in his press conferences, so there probably have been some in the media to become believers in the first year head coach.
Most concerning for Ole Miss though is the number of teams it will play this season in this top 25. Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU, Louisville and Missouri are all ranked in the preseason poll making up half of the Rebels season. Translation there is splitting those games and ending up at 9-3 may not be enough to make a case for the CFP again this year.