The Grove Report

Ole Miss Football Receives Major Prediction Ahead of Pete Golding's First Full Season

Golding led the Rebels to a pair of College Football Playoff wins, now gearing up for first full season after Lane Kiffin' departure.
Zack Nagy|
Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Football.

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Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels are clicking on all cylinders this offseason with the program assembling the No. 2 rated Transfer Portal Class in America paired witha new-look coaching staff.

Once Golding took over following Lane Kiffin's departure, he quickly carried the momentum both on and off the field for the Rebels after a historic run in the College Football Playoff.

"The locker room is so fragile, as we all know," Walker Jones, the executive director of the Grove Collective, said to ESPN. "This is the ultimate team sport, and there's no bigger team sport than football [with] so many personalities, so many moving parts.

"You had to hire the guy that can keep the locker room and the coaching staff in sync. It was such a unique situation, first of its kind. There's no blueprint for it."

Since the move, Ole Miss has made multiple impressive hires, assembled the No. 2 rated Transfer Portal Class, and retained multiple game-changing players for the 2026 season.

Ole Miss Football.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Rebels Football.

Now, the "Way-Too-Early" predictions continue rolling in with CBS Sports' Brad Crawford placing Ole Miss in his College Football Playoff bracket.

"A couple of significant changes from our post-transfer portal initial playoff projection iteration this offseason include the inclusion of USC as a first-time CFP entry and Ole Miss, following the return of quarterback Trinidad Chambliss," CBS Sports wrote.

"We've also moved Notre Dame from the No. 2 seed to No. 4, with the expectation that a single loss to Miami during the regular season would be enough for a first-round bye, but behind projected conference champions Texas and Indiana."

Golding and Co. head into the 2026 season with major expectations following Ole Miss retaining All-American running back Kewan Lacy and Trinidad Chambliss, along with a significant investment in the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Now, as the offseason continues, all eyes are on the Rebels ahead of Golding's first season at the helm of the program after a strong stretch across the last three months.

More Ole Miss News:

Ole Miss Football Targeting No. 1 Prospect on Georgia Bulldogs Board Amid Strong Push

Ole Miss Football and Texas Longhorns Pushing to Flip Coveted WR Committed to SEC Foe

Every Ole Miss Football Player That Received an Invitation to the 2026 NFL Combine

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Zack Nagy
ZACK NAGY

Zack Nagy is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Ole Miss Rebels On SI, a Sports Illustrated Publication. Nagy has covered Rebel Football, Baseball, Basketball and Recruiting, looking to keep readers updated on anything and everything involving Ole Miss athletics. Nagy has covered the Southeastern Conference for over half a decade after being born and raised in New Orleans (La.).

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