The 2023 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

in the West Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rebels were led by

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels. Kiffin formerly was the offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans football team from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the Nati ...

in his fourth season as their head coach. The Ole Miss football team played their home games at

Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Vaught–Hemingway Stadium at Hollingsworth Field is an outdoor athletic stadium located in University, Mississippi, United States (although it has an Oxford address). The stadium serves as the home for the University of Mississippi Rebels colle ...

Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...

. This was the final year for the SEC West and East divisions, as the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

joined the SEC from the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

in 2024, and the SEC's divisional format was done away with, making the SEC Conference a 16-team battle in 2024. The Rebels were predicted to finish 4th in the SEC West behind Alabama, LSU, and Texas A&M. They started out 3-0 with a win over #23 Tulane on the road, but suffered their first loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide by a score of 24-10. They rebounded by defeating their arch-rival #13 LSU 55-49 in front of 66,703 (the largest crowd to ever watch a football game in the state of Mississippi). The Rebels eventually won every subsequent game in the month of October and reached an 8-1 record and a #9 ranking in the first College Football Playoff rankings. This led to a Top 10 showdown with #2 Georgia, the two-time defending national champion, in Athens. ESPN's College GameDay broadcast their show on the University of Georgia's campus. The Rebels would lose 52-17; this would be the 2nd and final loss of the season for the team. Wins over ULM and arch-rival Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl allowed the Rebels to claim another 10-win regular season, just the second in their history after the 2021 season. While it looked as though the Rebels would unfortunately get left out of a New Year's Six bowl and would be sent to the Citrus Bowl, they did receive a New Year's Six bowl berth after Alabama was selected to be in the College Football Playoff over Florida State (which sent the undefeated Seminoles to the Orange Bowl). The Rebels would be selected to play Penn State in the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl. Despite being 5.5 point underdogs, Ole Miss won 38-25 in front of 71,230 fans from both teams, which was the 2nd-largest attendance of any bowl in the 2023 season following the Rose Bowl (96,371). Following their win in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played in Atlanta, Georgia since December 1968. Since 1997, it has been sponsored by Chick-fil-A and is officially known as the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. From 2006 to 2013, it was officially re ...

against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, the Rebels achieved their first 11-win season in program history. It was also the first time in 52 years that the Rebels finished a season with two-or-fewer losses.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Four Rebels were selected in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Transfers

Outgoing

Incoming

Preseason

SEC Media Poll

The 2023 SEC media poll was released on July 21, 2023. The Rebels were predicted to finish fourth in the Western Division.

Schedule

Ole Miss and the SEC announced the 2023 football schedule on September 20, 2022. The 2023 Rebels' schedule consisted of 7 home games and 5 away games for the regular season. Ole Miss hosted four SEC conference opponents

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

(

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

(

Magnolia Bowl The Magnolia Bowl is name given to the LSU–Ole Miss football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the LSU Tigers football team of Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Ole Miss Rebels football team ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and Vanderbilt (

) at home and traveled to four SEC opponents,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

(

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

(

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

(

Egg Bowl The Egg Bowl (traditionally named the “Battle for the Golden Egg”) is the name given to the Mississippi State–Ole Miss football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played annually between Southeastern Conference memb ...

) to close out the SEC regular season on the road. Ole Miss was not scheduled to play SEC East opponents

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in the 2023 regular season. The Rebel's bye week came during week 7 (on October 14, 2023). Ole Miss's out of conference opponents represented the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly kn ...

and the

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — des ...

conferences. The Rebels hosted three non–conference games which were against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

from the ACC, Louisiana–Monroe from the Sun Belt and

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

from the SoCon (FCS) and traveled to

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Tulane Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

from the American. ‡New Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Attendance Record

Game summaries

No. 20 (FCS) Mercer

At No. 24 Tulane

Georgia Tech

At No. 13 Alabama

No. 13 LSU

*New Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Attendance Record *The most total yards any LSU football team has allowed in a single game.

Arkansas

At Auburn

Vanderbilt

Texas A&M

At No. 2 Georgia

Louisiana–Monroe

At Mississippi State

Vs. No. 10 Penn State

Rankings

References

{{Ole Miss Rebels football navbox Ole Miss Ole Miss Rebels football seasons Peach Bowl champion seasons

Ole Miss Rebels football The Ole Miss Rebels football program represents the University of Mississippi, also known as "Ole Miss". The Rebels compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division of ...