SEC Snapshot: Ole Miss Rebels

Spring practices have ended. The transfer portal has slowed to a crawl. We are entering Summer Radio SZN. As such, let’s get our minds right for the upcoming college football season by taking a 10,000-foot view of every SEC football team.

The first big game of the 2025 Kentucky football season is a rematch of the biggest win of the 2024 season. Ole Miss is coming to Kroger Field for a marquee matchup on ABC. Can Kentucky keep up with Lane Kiffin‘s crew? Here’s what they’re bringing to the table a year after just missing out on the CFP.

SEC Snapshot: Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, Auburn, South Carolina

Preseason Rankings

SP+: 11
Returning Production: 113
Andy Staples: 19
ESPN: 24

Sign up for the KSR Newsletter to get breaking news and daily headlines delivered directly to your inbox.

Who’s the Quarterback?

The New York Giants made a trade to move up and make Jaxson Dart the second quarterback selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Even though he was never truly considered the top QB in college football, the former USC Trojan was vital to Kiffin’s turnaround in Oxford. He got to spend three years as the starter and improved every single year, culminating with a 2024 where he led the SEC in passing yards and completion percentage.

That’s a huge void to fill. Kiffin is asking another player who’s been in the program for a few years to take the reins. Austin Simmons has spent two years in Oxford. Last year, he threw a touchdown on his first career pass attempt. His experience is limited, appearing in only nine games off the bench in 2024.

Top Storyline: A New Teenager in the SEC

The Austin Simmons story is one of the most fascinating in the SEC. He’s a southpaw who started his career on the baseball diamond, allowing only 9.0 hits in 14 innings as a relief pitcher. He also put in some work in the outfield. Simmons ditched the diamond after a year to focus on the gridiron.

That’s just one part of his story that will be shared throughout the season. As SDS’ Connor O’Gara recently pointed out, Austin Simmons will be the new Ryan Williams. Broadcasts LOVED to share that the Alabama WR was only 17 years old. This year, you will hear ESPN rave about the 19-year-old college graduate. Simmons was originally a Florida commit. He skipped two years of school to reclassify from the 2025 class to the 2023 class and sign with Ole Miss. Simmons clearly has a good head on his shoulders with plenty of talent, but how ready will he be when he makes his first career SEC start on the road at Kroger Field?

Simmons has been on a press junket as of late. In addition to his story with O’Gara, he recently spoke with On3’s Andy and Ari and joined The Paul Finebaum Show.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Biggest Question Mark: What’s life like at Ole Miss after they went all-in and failed?

Austin Simmons is the shiny lure being used to distract you from the biggest question surrounding Lane Kiffin’s program. The Ole Miss head coach was dubbed the Portal King after going all-in ahead of the 2024 season. They didn’t just build a team around electric offensive weapons like Tre Harris (second in the SEC in receiving yards) and Jordan Watkins (first in the SEC in rec. TDs), they got dudes in the trenches. Princely Umanmielen had the second-most sacks in the SEC. Walter Nolen and JJ Pegues might have been the best 1-2 punch of interior defensive linemen not just in the SEC, but in the country.

Ole Miss had a record eight players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. Kiffin had all of that talent, and still couldn’t make the CFP. That’s because they could not beat Kentucky at home, and Jaxson Dart had an epic meltdown in The Swamp.

If he couldn’t reach the CFP with that crew and a favorable schedule, can you expect them to be legitimate SEC contenders in 2025? They traded one Umanmielen brother for another (Princewell, from Nebraska), swiped a DT from LSU (Da’Shawn Womack), and picked up a few solid portal wide receivers. They’ll lean on former LSU and Notre Dame running back Logan Diggs, who spent last season on the sidelines with an injury.

To put it plainly, the individual talent that was evident in Oxford a year ago is incomparable. The sum must be greater than its parts for the Lane Train to continue rolling through the SEC.

Ole Miss Football Schedule

Date	Opponent	Venue
Aug 30, 2025	Georgia State	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
Sep 6, 2025	at Kentucky	Kroger Field, Lexington, KY
Sep 13, 2025	Arkansas	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
Sep 20, 2025	Tulane	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
Sep 27, 2025	LSU	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
Oct 4, 2025	BYE	—
Oct 11, 2025	Washington State	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
Oct 18, 2025	at Georgia	Sanford Stadium, Athens, GA
Oct 25, 2025	at Oklahoma	Memorial Stadium, Norman, OK
Nov 1, 2025	South Carolina	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
Nov 8, 2025	The Citadel	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
Nov 15, 2025	Florida	Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford, MS
Nov 22, 2025	BYE	—
Nov 29, 2025	at Mississippi State	Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, MS