Auburn Tigers at Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss is in the middle of the toughest four-game stretch on its schedule, and a very different Auburn team than we're used to seeing shows up in Oxford on Friday, October 30.

Bush’s Picks

AUBMISS

AUBMISS

OverUnder

Best BetOle Miss

Ole Miss brings back the two engines of a No. 2 national offense in Chambliss and Lacy, while Auburn is still figuring out a nearly all-new roster under a first-year staff. That gap in continuity is the whole ballgame here, and it points toward backing the Rebels to win outright.

Auburn

• +Golesh's USF offense ranked 3rd nationally in yards
• +Byrum Brown brings 3 years in Golesh's system
• +No. 2 in SEC transfer haul with 46 additions
• −Lost the 'Freeze Four,' including first-round DL Keldric Faulk
• −Brand-new staff and system still gelling in Year 1
• −Expanded 9-game SEC slate leaves little room for error

Ole Miss

• +Chambliss returns after 3,937 yards, 22 TDs in 2025
• +Lacy back after 1,567 rushing yards, 24 TDs
• +Nation's No. 2 transfer class reloads the roster
• −Lost Lane Kiffin to LSU, unproven staff since
• −Buried in a brutal 4-game gauntlet with Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma
• −New OC John David Baker untested calling this offense

Auburn is basically starting over. Alex Golesh left Tennessee's staff to take over the Tigers, and he brought a chunk of his old USF operation with him, headlined by quarterback Byrum Brown, who spent 3 years running Golesh's offense and rushed for 14 touchdowns last season. That USF attack ranked 3rd nationally in total offense, so Golesh knows how to score. The question is whether a roster stocked with 46 transfers can gel fast enough to matter by late October.

Ole Miss isn't rebuilding so much as reloading. Lane Kiffin bolted for LSU after the season, but the Rebels kept the two guys who made that offense hum: quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who threw for 3,937 yards and 22 touchdowns on 66.1% passing in 2025, and running back Kewan Lacy, who ran for 1,567 yards and 24 scores. Pete Golding's staff also landed the nation's No. 2 transfer class to patch the rest of the roster, betting that talent and continuity at the skill spots can outweigh losing the coach who built the thing.

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AUB Auburn

MISS Ole Miss

This Auburn date lands right in the teeth of it. Ole Miss faces Texas, Auburn, Georgia and Oklahoma back to back, and this is the one home game in that run sandwiched between two of the scarier road trips on the slate. Show up flat here and the whole gauntlet gets a lot harder to survive.

Auburn Tigers

Oct 16?@ Georgia—

Oct 2?@ Tennessee—

Sep 25?vs Vanderbilt—

Sep 19?vs Florida—

Sep 12?vs Southern Miss—

Sep 5?vs Baylor—

Ole Miss Rebels

Oct 16?vs Missouri—

Oct 9?@ Vanderbilt—

Sep 25?@ Florida—

Sep 19?vs LSU—

Sep 12?vs Charlotte—

Sep 6?vs Louisville—

None of this settles cleanly by kickoff. Golesh inherited a defense that lost first-round pick Keldric Faulk and most of the other pieces from the previous staff, so Auburn's identity on that side of the ball is still very much a work in progress heading into league play. Ole Miss, meanwhile, has to prove its no-Kiffin offense translates under new offensive coordinator John David Baker, who's never called plays in Oxford before.

Auburn Tigers

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

Ole Miss Rebels

(0)

Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report

Strip away the coaching drama and this comes down to who's more comfortable in their own system by the end of October. Ole Miss has the more proven pieces on the field. Auburn has the more explosive track record on paper, if Brown and Golesh can get it translated in time.