The 2025 college football season begins in 19 days but the preseason polls are already making their appearance and Ole Miss is included.
On Monday the preseason Coaches Poll released and put the Rebels at No. 15 heading into the year. Possibly a little higher than some might expect to see them.
This year’s roster is returning four starters, as has been heavily documented, with a new starting quarterback in Austin Simmons and plenty of questions in key positions. Still, what Lane Kiffin has done with the program in his first five seasons has helped put Ole Miss in the conversation of a yearly contender for championships.
There is plenty of buzz around the Rebels heading into the preseason camps but not as much as a year ago with a roster that saw eight players selected in the NFL Draft. But with the weeks winding down and the August 30 opener inching closer the chatter is building.
“I think it is what it is. We had a lot of really good players that got drafted and were on that team that were really good players, so that’s understandable,” Kiffin said last week. “I do think that, again, it speaks to the program though, like Kyle was saying walking in, that number of people have said to him before, if you would have lost a lot of significant players here, you’d be looking at the voting and being at the bottom of the conference versus questions like that. Well, is it different that you’re not being talked about, you know, in the Top 10 in the country? So, it’s a good place to be for Ole Miss that those questions are coming up now.”
Ole Miss is one of nine Southeastern Conference teams in the Top 25 rankings and among the group of six inside the Top 15. Texas earns the No. 1 spot with Georgia the only other SEC team in the Top 5. Alabama and LSU make it just inside the Top 10 at eight and nine, respectively.
On3’s Brett McMurphy also released his preseason Top 25 voting for the Associated Press poll on Monday, placing the Rebels at No. 21. The AP Poll will come out on August 11 around 11 a.m. CT.
Below is the full 2025 preseason Coaches Poll:
Texas
Ohio State
Penn State
Georgia
Notre Dame
Clemson
Oregon
Alabama
LSU
Miami
Arizona State
Illinois
South Carolina
Michigan
Ole Miss
SMU
Florida
Tennessee
Indiana
Kansas State
Texas A&M
Iowa State
BYU
Texas Tech
Boise State