The first round of the College Football Playoff brings us a pair of rematches from the 2025 season. We get Alabama–Oklahoma in a standalone Friday night game, then have No. 11 Tulane and No. 6 Ole Miss in a Saturday afternoon window.
The Rebels beat the Green Wave 45-10 back on Sept. 20. Ole Miss, of course, had head coach Lane Kiffin for that game. Kiffin will be on a couch in Baton Rouge when the Green Wave roll into Oxford this go-round.
Meanwhile, Pete Golding has never been the head coach in a college football contest. That change could give Tulane’s upset chances a big boost, but ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg doesn’t see it happening. In his CFP and bowl predictions piece, he picked Ole Miss to prevail 34-16.
Here’s Rittenberg’s analysis:
Tulane defended North Texas extremely well in the American Conference championship game, forcing five turnovers and holding the Mean Green to seven points until the final minute of the third quarter. Golding’s defense gave Tulane problems in the first matchup… [and] Tulane struggled to defend Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss… in the first meeting. Sumrall’s team will play a bit better this time, but Ole Miss overcomes a slow start to pull away.
Whoever wins the Tulane-Ole Miss affair will advance to the Sugar Bowl to face No. 3 Georgia. The Bulldogs represent the Rebels’ lone loss this season.
Getting a chance to avenge that defeat and prove to the world they don’t need Lane Kiffin to win is a heck of a motivating factor, but Jon Sumrall isn’t just going to slink away to Florida. Kickoff between Tulane and Ole Miss is Saturday, Dec. 20 at 3:30 p.m. E.T. (TNT).
