The inaugural Music City Kickoff isn't just a neutral-site novelty — it's an ACC contender against a CFP semifinalist opening the season with a lot to prove.
Bush’s Picks
LOUMISS
LOUMISS
OverUnder
Best BetOle Miss
Ole Miss opened as roughly a touchdown favorite here, and the price reflects a genuine talent gap — a No. 3 final-poll team against a Cardinals squad replacing its starting quarterback. Backing the Rebels moneyline is basically betting a deeper, more proven roster shows up even in year one of a coaching transition. The risk is Pete Golding's 1st game calling the shots as a head coach instead of a coordinator, which can be a wild card in any opener.
Louisville
+Beat No. 2 Miami on the road last season
+Clev Lubin and Isaac Brown both stayed instead of leaving
+Portal class ranked 16th nationally, ACC picked them 3rd
−QB Lincoln Kienholz is a portal newcomer, unproven as starter
−Lost leading receiver Chris Bell to the draft
−25 scholarship players departed via the portal
Ole Miss
+Finished 13-2 with the program's 1st-ever CFP berth
+No. 2-rated transfer class nationally under new staff
+Chambliss returns off an 8th-place Heisman finish
−1st season under new coach Pete Golding, replacing Kiffin
−Chambliss's 2026 eligibility still tied up in litigation
−Lost top pass rusher Umanmielen and CB Dottery to LSU
Louisville's answer at quarterback is Lincoln Kienholz, the transfer projected as QB1 after Jeff Brohm went to the portal for a 4th straight year to fill the position. Ole Miss counters with Trinidad Chambliss, who finished 8th in Heisman voting last season — but whether he's even eligible to play is still tied up in court after the NCAA denied his waiver for a 6th season and a judge had to step in with an injunction just to keep him on the field. That's the swing factor hanging over the whole game before a snap is played.
The roster turnover goes deeper than the quarterback rooms. Louisville lost 25 scholarship players to the portal, including leading receiver Chris Bell, but brought in a 30-man transfer class ranked 16th nationally and kept both edge rusher Clev Lubin and running back Isaac Brown home instead of letting them walk. Ole Miss did the same thing at a bigger scale, landing the No. 2 transfer class in the country to restock after losing pass rusher Princewill Umanmielen and corner TJ Dottery to LSU, where former coach Lane Kiffin took them. Oddsmakers installed the Rebels as roughly a touchdown favorite in the early line.
Show fees
6:30 PM CT
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LOU Louisville
MISS Ole Miss
This is really a story about two programs trying to prove last year wasn't a fluke, with very different offseasons behind them. Brohm is running it back with continuity at Louisville, chasing a 4th straight 9-win season. Pete Golding is trying to do the opposite — replace Kiffin's fingerprints all over the program without losing a step, in his 1st game as a head coach anywhere. Both jobs get an immediate, national-TV audition in Nashville.
Louisville Cardinals
Ole Miss Rebels
Recent form.
The two programs have only met once, back in 2021, when Ole Miss jumped out to a 26-0 halftime lead and rolled to a 43-24 win — also, fittingly, a season opener. Five years and two coaching changes later, neither roster resembles the ones that played that day, but the stakes are considerably higher: Louisville arrives picked 3rd in the ACC, and Ole Miss is coming off the program's 1st-ever CFP appearance.
Louisville Cardinals
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Ole Miss Rebels
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
However the Chambliss situation shakes out, this is as good a litmus test as either program will get all September — a proven ACC contender against an SEC roster that was 1 win away from a national title game a year ago. The Music City Kickoff picked quite a way to open its inaugural run.
