Ole Miss Football Announces Kickoff Times For the First Home Game of 2026 Season

For the first time in five months, the Ole Miss Rebels will return to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium after their thrilling final home win of the season against the Tulane Green Wave.

With important matchups throughout the season, this will be the first time Ole Miss takes on a new team, the Charlotte 49ers.

Starting in Stadium Lights

Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy jumps over a defender during a college football game between Ole Miss and LSU at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ole Miss announced that the Rebels will take on the Charlotte 49ers at 6:45 p.m. on September 12 to kick off the season. The game will be live on either ESPN2 or the SEC Network.

Ole Miss is walking into the game as a heavy favorite, with an electric nighttime crowd, no matter the opponent. The game was originally scheduled to take place in Charlotte, leaving the 49ers with back-to-back away games, including the Citadel on September 5.

The game will be the official welcome back game for the College Football Playoff team, which, less than six months ago, did what no other Rebel team has accomplished.

The Stakes are High

Mississippi Rebels head coach Pete Golding against the Miami Hurricanes during the 2026 Fiesta Bowl | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Rebels are patiently waiting for Pete Golding to take the field for his first full season as head coach. As this will be most fans' first time watching Ole Miss, the focus is on their tendency to be another playoff-caliber team.

If the Rebels come out strong on offense and prove dominant on defense, there will be no questions about the success of last season or the staffing changes.

Rebel nation will gain insight into the combination of John David Baker and Golding to see where their combined success can compete and what tweaks are crucial before conference games commence.

As the fans cheer in a sea of red, this will be the first impression the Rebels give the home crowd, which will directly correlate to the energy for the matchup against the LSU Tigers a week later. It serves as a builder of the energy that will return to the Grove and is a determining factor in how the team feels before facing former coach Lane Kiffin.

Although this is the first matchup between Ole Miss and Charlotte, the game will set the tone for the rest of the season.

The matchup marks the beginning of the seven-game home schedule, with visits from LSU, Missouri, Auburn, Georgia, and Wofford, and ends with the Egg Bowl against Mississippi State following Thanksgiving.

The Rebels will also take on Louisville at a neutral site to open the season, and travel to Florida, Vanderbilt, Texas, and Oklahoma for their road tilts.

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