No. 6 seed Ole Miss hosts 11th-seeded Tulane for a second time this season in the CFP’s first round

By Canadian Press on December 18, 2025.

No. 17 Tulane (11-2, CFP No. 11) at No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, CFP No. 2), Saturday, 3:30 EST (TNT)

BetMGM College Football Odds: Ole Miss by 17 1/2.

Series record: Ole Miss leads 44-28.

What’s at stake?

Both teams are in the College Football Playoff for the first time and the winner moves on to face Georgia in a CFP quarterfinal game at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. That gives Tulane a chance to return to the Superdome, which served as the Green Wave’s home stadium for nearly four decades from 1975 to 2013. Meanwhile, Ole Miss could earn a rematch with Georgia, the only team this season to beat the Rebels, who are one victory from the first 12-win campaign in program history. Mississippi also is looking to prove it can win big games without coach Lane Kiffin, who left the program on Nov. 30 to fill the vacancy at rival LSU. Kiffin has been replaced at Ole Miss by defensive coordinator Pete Golding, who’ll be making his head coaching debut in a high-stakes, first-round CFP contest.

Key matchup

QB Trinidad Chambliss against Tulane’s defensive front. The Green Wave were unable to contain Chambliss in the teams’ last meeting earlier this season, and the Rebels QB accounted for 419 yards of offense, with 307 yards passing yards and 112 rushing. Tulane’s defensive line will have to be better at making Chambliss feel rushed to throw without giving him running lanes — no easy task — for this game to be competitive.

Players to watch

Tulane: QB Jake Retzlaff has accounted for 30 TDs this season, passing for 14 and running for 16 — the latter a record for rushing TDs by a Green Wave QB.

Ole Miss: Chambliss finished eighth in Heisman Trophy voting. He has averaged 340.6 yards of total offense since taking over for Austin Simmons as starter against Arkansas in the Rebels’ third game of the season on Sept. 13.

Facts & figures

Ole Miss has won 14 straight in the series including a 45-10 victory in Oxford on Sept. 20, each team’s fourth game of the season. … Tulane last defeated Mississippi in 1988, also the Green Wave’s last road win in the series. … Tulane is 2-1 against power conference opponents this season, defeating Northwestern of the Big Ten and ACC champion Duke before losing to the Rebels of the SEC. … Tulane was a charter member of the SEC but left the league in 1966. … Tulane is coming off its second American Conference championship in four seasons, during which the Green Wave have played in four straight league title games. … Tulane has won 19 of 23 on the road. … Tulane coach Jon Sumrall is 20-7 in two seasons with the Wave and will leave Tulane to take over as Florida’s coach after this season. … Tulane kicker Patrick Durkin owns the school record for field goals in a season with 24. … Since making his season debut as a ball carrier on Nov. 7, Tulane RB Jamauri McClure has 456 yards rushing on 68 carries — 6.7 yards per carry — and two TDs. … Ole Miss has beaten Tulane 46 times on the field, but two of those victories were since vacated because of NCAA violations. … Mississippi has won 11 straight at home. … Ole Miss led the SEC this season in total offense (498.1 yards per game) and passing offense (309.6 yard per game). … Rebels RB Kewan Lacy has rushed for an Ole Miss single-season-record 20 TDs. He also has gained 1,279 yards on 258 carries. Edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen leads Ole Miss in sacks with 6 1/2 this season.

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The Associated Press