OXFORD — Get your travel itineraries ready — Ole Miss’ 2025 season will be here faster than you think.
The Rebels’ full schedule was released Wednesday, giving specific dates to opponents that had already been penciled in. Ole Miss (9-3, 5-3 SEC) will play the same SEC schedule as it did this season with the locations reversed. Eight of Ole Miss’ opponents on next season’s schedule made it to bowl games in 2024, including College Football Playoff-bound Georgia.
Here is a quick analysis of the Rebels’ 2025 schedule, which includes each opponent’s record this season, bowl destination (if applicable) and information on how the teams fared the last time they met.
No. 14 Ole Miss plays Duke (9-3, 5-3 ACC) in the Gator Bowl on Jan. 2.
Georgia State (3-9 in 2024)
The Panthers struggled in 2024, missing a bowl game after making one in four of the previous five seasons. Previous head coach Shawn Elliott took an assistant coaching job at South Carolina last February, which led to the hiring of former Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee. Ole Miss and Georgia State have never played previously.
At Kentucky (4-8 in 2024)
There are likely a few games circled on Ole Miss’ calendar next year, but you’d have to think the matchup in Lexington, Kentucky will be among those highlighted. The Rebels’ stunning 20-17 home loss to the Wildcats kept them from the CFP, a game where it seemed Ole Miss had things in hand until a late Kentucky fourth-and-7 conversion went for 60-plus yards and turned the matchup on its head. The Wildcats’ win over Ole Miss was their lone SEC win, and Kentucky is missing a bowl game for the first time since 2015.
Arkansas (6-6 in 2024, Liberty Bowl)
Ole Miss won in Fayetteville, Arkansas for the first time since 2008 and did so in dominant fashion. The Rebels won 63-31, and quarterback Jaxson Dart and wide receiver Jordan Watkins set program single-game records for total offense/passing yards and receiving yards/touchdowns, respectively. Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green announced earlier this week he would be returning in 2025. The Razorbacks have made bowl games under Sam Pittman in three of the last four years.
Tulane (9-4 in 2024, Gasparilla Bowl)
Ole Miss and Tulane played in 2021 and 2023 in Oxford and New Orleans, respectively. The Rebels won both matchups — the first was a blowout, and the second was a tied game headed to the fourth quarter before the visitors exploded for 20 points. Head coach Jon Sumrall, who was previously at Troy, led the Green Wave to a 9-4 regular season in his first year at the school. Starting quarterback Darian Mensah recently committed to Duke out of the transfer portal.
LSU (8-4 in 2024, Texas Bowl)
This was another game the Rebels would like to have back from 2024 — Ole Miss did not trail in the game until the final play of overtime, a game-winning touchdown pass from Garrett Nussmeier to Kyren Lacy. Nussmeier announced this week he will be returning for his final season. The Tigers lost three of five to close out the regular season. Ole Miss has won the last two meetings with LSU in Oxford; the 2023 edition was a 55-49 thriller.
Washington State (8-4 in 2024, Holiday Bowl)
Ole Miss and Washington State have never met previously. Cougars head coach Jake Dickert has led Washington State to bowl games in two of his three seasons as the full-time head coach. The Cougars were ranked as high as No. 18 in the CFP rankings this year but lost their final three games of the regular season. Washington State’s offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, was hired by Oklahoma in early December; the Cougars averaged just under 37 points per game this season.
At Georgia (11-2, College Football Playoff)
Ole Miss dominated the Bulldogs in Oxford this year, a 28-10 Rebels victory that ended with the goal posts getting torn down. Georgia won 52-17 when the teams played in Athens in 2023. The Bulldogs are back in the College Football Playoff after a one year hiatus; they won back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022.
At Oklahoma (6-6, Armed Forces Bowl)
It will be Ole Miss’ first time playing in Norman, Oklahoma. The Rebels trailed 14-10 at halftime against the Sooners in 2024 but outscored them 16-0 in the second half. Quarterback Jackson Arnold is currently in the transfer portal after losing his job and then regaining it part way through the season. Head coach Brent Venables is 22-16 in three years leading the Sooners.
South Carolina (9-3, Citrus Bowl)
Ole Miss played South Carolina the week after losing to Kentucky in 2024 and overwhelmed the Gamecocks in Columbia, South Carolina, a 27-3 win that was never in doubt after the first quarter. South Carolina finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the country, winning their final six games — four of those coming against teams ranked in the AP top 25.
The Citadel (5-7)
The Bulldogs finished 5-7 in 2024 and did not qualify for the FCS playoffs. The Citadel has not made the FCS playoff since 2016. The Rebels and Bulldogs have played once, a 27-7 Ole Miss win in Oxford in 2005.
Florida (7-5, Gasparilla Bowl)
After defeating Georgia and resting up during the bye week, the Rebels traveled to Gainesville this season and fell to the unranked Gators 24-17. The teams were tied after three quarters, and a Montrell Johnson touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter wound up being the difference. Star freshman quarterback DJ Lagway threw for 180 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in the win. The Gators won 51-35 the last time the teams played in Oxford in 2020, which was also head coach Lane Kiffin’s first game with the Rebels.
At Mississippi State (2-10)
The 2024 meeting between the teams in Oxford was the first won by the home team since 2020. The Rebels have won four of the last five in the series. Ole Miss led 17-14 at halftime this year and held the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half. Michael Van Buren Jr., who started at quarterback for Mississippi State in the game, is currently in the transfer portal. Quarterback Blake Shapen, who started the first four games of the year before an injury, announced recently he will return in 2025.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
