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Report: Ole Miss football adds Jacksonville State to 2031 schedule

11by: Jake Thompson08/27/25JakeThompsonOn3
NCAA Football: Furman at Mississippi
Aug 31, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels helmet on the sideline during the second half against the Furman Paladins at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

With last week’s news of the Southeastern Conference shifting to a nine-game conference schedule for football in 2026 there was the assumption the non-conference schedules made for the next few seasons would start seeing teams fall off. Ole Miss is doing the opposite.

On Wednesday FBSchedules reported that the Rebels have added Jacksonville State to its 2031 schedule. According to a game contract obtained via a public records request, the game is scheduled for August 30 of that season and currently the only non-conference game on the slate.

This would be the second time Ole Miss has played the Gamecocks. The first meeting was in 2010 and one that Rebel fans probably want to forget. Jacksonville State left Oxford with a 49-48 win in double overtime to start the penultimate season of the Houston Nutt era.

According to the game conctract obtained by FBSchedules, which was finalized in January, Ole Miss will pay Jacksonville State $1.45 million. There is a stipulation in the contract that states the game can be moved to either the 2029 or 2030 schedule, but if it happens Ole Miss will then schedule a second game with the Gamecocks for either the 2033, 2034 or 2035 season.

The new schedule format announced by the SEC last week means there will be three non-conference games for each team moving forward. One of those games must be against a Power 4 opponent.

This year’s opponent is Washington State, though not part of a Power 4 conference. It was allowed after Wake Forest bought out its contract for a return game to Oxford this season. The Rebels beat the Demon Deacons in Winston Salem last season.

Between now and 2031 Ole Miss does not currently have a Power 4 game scheduled, or at least publicly announced. Oregon State has a home and home series set to start in 2027 and the return game in 2030 but those do not satisfy the Power 4 rule, either.

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