As Ole Miss baseball was eliminated from the Men's College World Series on Sunday afternoon, the 2025-26 athletic year for the Rebels came to a close.

Ole Miss only played two games in Omaha before being eliminated from the field, but it's hard to argue against what this team accomplished in 2026. Based on what was seen in conference play from the Rebels (a mark of 15-15), reaching the CWS is a remarkable feat in itself, even if the end result was less-than-ideal for Mike Bianco's squad.

Still, baseball is just a portion of an overall athletic year, and now that the page is being turned to the fall and football season, let's take a look back at some of the major sports at Ole Miss and how they performed in 2025-26.

Ole Miss Football Enjoyed One of the Best Seasons in School History Behind Some Unlikely Heroes

Ole Miss had one of the best (and most unorthodox) football seasons in recent memory in 2025, highlighted by some previously unknown names rising to the occasion.

Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss didn't begin the year as the starter, but after Austin Simmons suffered an injury on the road at Kentucky, Chambliss stepped in and never looked back. Seeing limited action in the first two games of the year, followed by becoming the starter, Chambliss finished the year with 3,937 passing yards and 22 touchdowns paired with just three interceptions. He also rushed for 527 yards and eight scores as the Rebels paved their way to the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history.

Chambliss, a former Division II standout at Ferris State, wasn't the only newcomer to make an impact for Ole Miss, however. Running back Kewan Lacy, a Missouri transfer, quickly became the every-down back for the Rebels, rushing for over 1,500 yards and a whopping 24 touchdowns. That was enough to earn Lacy a spot on the cover of EA Sports College Football 27 for the upcoming season, and the tandem of Chambliss and Lacy is expected to be one of the most dangerous backfields in the sport this year.

Time would fail me to talk in-depth about names such as wide receivers De'Zhaun Stribling, Deuce Alexander, and Harrison Wallace III or defensive names like Suntarine Perkins and Will Echoles, but just know, the Rebels had a magical regular season with just one loss on the docket (on the road at Georgia) and was a shoe-in for the CFP.

Then, the magic turned to chaos.

Head coach Lane Kiffin strung the fan base along about his coaching future before finally biting the bullet and taking the head coaching job at rival LSU right after the Rebels' Egg Bowl win over Mississippi State. That led to defensive coordinator Pete Golding being named the head coach for the CFP and beyond, and he led the Rebels to a playoff win over Tulane at home and a quarterfinal win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl before succumbing to Miami in the semifinals at the Fiesta Bowl.

The question for the Rebels in 2026 is whether or not they can keep this unheard of momentum going under a new head coach, but it helps that he should have some of his most important pieces back in Chambliss, Lacy, Perkins and Echoles.

Fresh Off a Sweet 16 Appearance, Ole Miss Men's Basketball Did Not Enjoy the Same Success in 2025-26

Ole Miss was having a disastrous men's basketball season before a deep run in the SEC Tournament almost stole the Rebels a bid for the Big Dance. Chris Beard's team finished the year 15-20 overall and just 4-14 in conference play before pushing the envelope and winning three games in Nashville before falling to Arkansas 93-90 in overtime to end the season.

The Rebels' leading scorers this season were AJ Storr (15.5 PPG), Malik Dia (14.5 PPG) and Ilias Kamardine (11.3 PPG). Kamardine is set to return for next season, and Beard and his staff have hit the transfer portal with hopes of righting the ship in 2026-27. Beard has a history of taking his teams to the NCAA Tournament, including a Final Four appearance with Texas Tech in 2019, so the expectations haven't changed for the Rebels, as they are now a season removed from a Sweet 16 appearance.

Still, sustained basketball success has been difficult to find in Ole Miss' history, and it will be up to Beard & Co. to make sure last season was a one-off and not a new trajectory for the program.

Ole Miss Women's Basketball Reached Its 5th Straight NCAA Tournament Under Coach Yo

Sustained success has not been difficult for coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin since she took over the Rebels' women's basketball program in 2018. "Coach Yo" has led the Rebels to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including a Sweet 16 berth in 2023 and 2025.

Although the 2026 tournament did not see Ole Miss reach the Sweet 16, the Rebels did reach the second round and fall in a heartbreaker to Minnesota by a final score of 65-63. The year as a whole saw Ole Miss finish 24-12 overall and 8-8 in the SEC, good enough to earn a bid to the Big Dance and take down Gonzaga in the first round.

Rebels women's basketball has real momentum, and reaching the NCAA Tournament has now become the standard under McPhee-McCuin. Defense has been the name of the game under her leadership as Ole Miss averaged 13 more PPG than its opponents in 2025-26.

Overall, it was a solid year for the women on the hardwood, and expectations should remain rather high entering next winter.

Ole Miss Baseball Overachieved in the Postseason After a Disappointing Conference Slate

The expectation for Ole Miss baseball is typically to host a regional, but the team's last two trips to the Men's College World Series have come entirely on the road.

Ole Miss likely fell one conference win shy of hosting a regional in 2026, and it was sent to Lincoln, Nebraska, for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels swept that regional (including two extra-inning wins over three-seed Arizona State) to advance to a Super Regional against conference-foe Auburn, a series that the Rebels also swept to punch their ticket to Omaha for the first time since winning it all in 2022.

That, in itself, is remarkable. The Ole Miss bullpen was lights-out for the first two weekends of the tournament, but that came crashing back to earth in the CWS. The Rebels led early in games against North Carolina and Troy, but the wheels fell off late in both games to send Ole Miss home early from college baseball's biggest stage. Mike Bianco had one of his best coaching jobs this postseason, but things regressed to the mean at an inopportune time as the Rebels were not able to pursue another national title.

Still, reaching Omaha is no small accomplishment, and the Rebels proved once again that they are a program capable of taking that step, even if they have to go on the road to do it.

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