The 123rd Egg Bowl closes the regular season in Oxford, and for the first time in years Ole Miss walks in as the program with more to prove without its old coach in the building.
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MSSTMISS
MSSTMISS
OverUnder
Best BetOle Miss
Ole Miss brings back its Heisman-caliber quarterback-running back duo and enters the year as a playoff-tier roster, while Mississippi State is still figuring out who its starting quarterback even is heading into fall camp. That gap in continuity is the whole ballgame here, and it's why the Rebels are the play to win outright long before a number gets posted.
Mississippi State
+New DC Zach Arnett knows the program from past stint
+Full portal QB room gives Lebby options at the position
−Kamario Taylor is a first-time starter untested in this rivalry
−2 straight losing seasons under Lebby raises seat questions
Ole Miss
+Chambliss and Lacy both stayed instead of following Kiffin to LSU
+Won 4 straight in the series, reached CFP semis last year
−Lost OC Charlie Weis Jr. and head coach Kiffin to LSU
−First-year head coach Golding untested in the role
Mississippi State at Ole Miss has been lopsided lately — the Rebels have won 4 straight in the series — but the framing around this one is different. Ole Miss reached the College Football Playoff semifinals last season under Lane Kiffin, who bolted for LSU before the postseason even wrapped, taking offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. with him. Pete Golding, the old defensive coordinator, inherited the keys. Whatever shape this Rebels team takes by late November, the Egg Bowl in Oxford will be a verdict on whether Golding kept the machine running.
The good news for Golding: he didn't lose his best players. Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy both got courted to follow Kiffin to Baton Rouge and both stayed, and Ole Miss has since built a joint Heisman push around the pair — Lacy even landed the College Football 27 cover. That's a quarterback-running back combo other rosters in this rivalry simply don't have. Mississippi State's answer at quarterback looks nothing like that continuity story: Jeff Lebby handed the job to Kamario Taylor after churning through the portal for arms, including Jaden Rashada and AJ Swann, meaning the Bulldogs will be leaning on a new starter's development all fall before this one ever kicks off.
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MSST Mississippi State
MISS Ole Miss
Lebby is 2 years into the job with 2 straight losing seasons on the resume, and 2026 reads like a referendum year in Starkville — he even brought back former Bulldogs coach Zach Arnett to run the defense, a move he had to defend publicly as "outside the box." That's not the profile of a program feeling settled, and it's the backdrop for a trip to Oxford that's kicked Mississippi State's teeth in for 4 seasons running. Ole Miss, meanwhile, gets to spend its fall trying to prove last year's playoff run was a program level-up and not a Kiffin fluke — which puts extra weight on every SEC game, this one included, that the Rebels are favored to win.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Ole Miss Rebels
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Analysts have set Ole Miss's floor at 8 or 9 wins with a real playoff ceiling attached, which tells you where the expectations sit heading into a Black Friday kickoff at Vaught-Hemingway. Kickoff is set for 11:00 AM CT, a Friday-morning slot that's becoming a fixture for this series and gives it the full holiday-weekend spotlight.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Nov 21?vs Tennessee Tech—
Nov 13?vs Auburn—
Nov 6?vs Vanderbilt—
Oct 30?@ Texas—
Oct 16?@ LSU—
Oct 2?vs Alabama—
Sep 25?vs Missouri—
Sep 19?@ South Carolina—
Sep 12?@ Minnesota—
Sep 5?vs UL Monroe—
Ole Miss Rebels
Nov 21?vs Wofford—
Nov 13?@ Oklahoma—
Nov 6?vs Georgia—
Oct 30?vs Auburn—
Oct 16?vs Missouri—
Oct 9?@ Vanderbilt—
Sep 25?@ Florida—
Sep 19?vs LSU—
Sep 12?vs Charlotte—
Sep 6?vs Louisville—
Recent form.
By the time these two teams meet, the season-long questions — can Taylor stabilize Mississippi State's offense, can Golding's Rebels hold serve without Kiffin calling plays — should have real answers instead of preseason projections. History says bet on Oxford; the Rebels have won the last 4 meetings and still hold the all-time edge in the Battle for the Golden Egg. But rivalry games have a habit of not caring what the resumes say going in.
