Ole Miss is ranked No. 3 in the final Associated Press college football poll of the season.
It’s the Rebels’ highest final AP ranking since finishing third in 1962. They went 10-0 that year, including 6-0 in SEC play, and beat Arkansas 17-13 in the Sugar Bowl.
The 2025 squad had a program-best 13-2 record and reached the College Football Playoff for the first time. The Rebels lost to Miami in the CFP semifinals (Fiesta Bowl), 31-27. Ole Miss got to that game by beating Tulane in the first round and Georgia in the quarterfinals (Sugar Bowl).
Ole Miss won 11 games in the regular season for the first time in program history. After defeating Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl, head coach Lane Kiffin left to take the LSU head coaching job. The team didn’t blink, as defensive coordinator Pete Golding was elevated to head coach and the Rebels continued their historic run. They entered the playoff as the No. 6 seed, and the win over Georgia avenged a loss to the Bulldogs in the regular season.
Ole Miss, which was ranked No. 21 in the AP preseason poll, exceeded expectations a year after narrowly missing the playoff. Only four starters returned from the 2024 squad, and then starting quarterback Austin Simmons was injured in the second game of the season.
Enter Trinidad Chambliss, the unheralded transfer who had led Ferris State to the Division II national championship a year earlier. He finished the season with 3,937 yards and 22 touchdowns passing, plus he rushed for 620 yards and eight TDs. Chambliss finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting.
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