LSU vs Ole Miss Rivalry History, Odds & Preview: Magnolia Bowl 2026

As if the LSU vs. Ole Miss rivalry needed more gasoline, this year's Magnolia Bowl will have a little extra hate as Lane Kiffin returns to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC) for the first time since leaving the Rebels for the Tigers.

Kiffin, who went 3-3 as Ole Miss' head coach in this rivalry, takes on his former QB and defensive coordinator-turned College Football Playoff heroes Trinidad Chambliss and Pete Golding, as LSU looks to win its 65th game in the series. And while offense will be the hot topic, our college football picks expect the Tigers' defense to be the difference.

LSU vs Ole Miss 2026 preview

LSU	Category	Ole Miss
Lane Kiffin (2-0)	Head coach (record with school)	Pete Golding (4-1)
2-0	Record	2-0
1-1	ATS record	0-2
2-0	Over/Under	1-1
No. 8	SP+ ranking	No. 20
No. 13	SP+ offense	No. 11
No. 2	SP+ defense	No. 39
No. 53	SP+ special teams	No. 1

Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account

LSU vs Ole Miss odds

LSU vs Ole Miss prediction 

The headlines going into this year's Magnolia Bowl will center on Lane Kiffin and his former QB, Trinidad Chambliss. Although Kiffin is known for his offense and Chambliss is a Heisman Trophy odds favorite, the defenses are why LSU is positioned to win in The Vaught.

Ole Miss might have a defense problem, despite Pete Golding being a defensive head coach, and LSU might have one of the best defenses in the country, despite Kiffin being known for his offense. The Rebels rank outside the Top 60 in both EPA per pass and EPA per rush on defense, with a havoc rate that's the third-lowest in the SEC (15.5%).

If Sam Leavitt can play within Kiffin and Charlie Weis Jr.'s system, and cut back on "YOLO plays," LSU's offensive talent can take advantage and let their defense do the rest. The Tigers' defense is third nationally in havoc rate (30.2%) and Top 10 in EPA per pass and rush.

Chambliss will need to be a superstar to win this game, and if he isn't, LSU's pass rush will pin its ears back and go to work.

Score prediction: LSU 33, Ole Miss 29

Who are the stars of LSU vs Ole Miss 2026?

• Sam Leavitt, QB, LSU

After starting his career at Michigan State, Sam Leavitt turned into a breakout star at Arizona State in 2024 under Kenny Dillingham. He helped lead the Sun Devils to a College Football Playoff berth and won Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year after totaling 29 touchdowns. However, a foot injury cost him half of the 2025 season and led him to transfer to LSU to reignite his NFL Draft stock under Kiffin. His playing style has been compared to former Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart, but his tendency to try and do too much could hurt LSU against the Rebels.

• Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole Miss

One of the best stories in college football last season, Chambliss was a no-star recruit coming out of high school. He spent four years at Ferris State, where he won the Division II national title in 2024 after scoring 51 total touchdowns. Ranked the 843rd-best player in the transfer portal, Chambliss was all but ready to transfer to Temple when Kiffin and Ole Miss swooped in and brought him to Oxford to be the backup QB to Austin Simmons.

An injury forced Chambliss into the starting lineup, and he effectively "Wally Pipped" Simmons while becoming one of the top QBs in the country. Then, he helped steady the ship when Kiffin left for LSU before the CFP, leading wins over Tulane and Georgia while cosplaying as Superman. And he'll need to put on the cape again to beat this LSU defense.

• Trey'Dez Green, TE, LSU

A projected first-round pick in April, Trey'Dez Green is among the biggest mismatches in college football. A tight end in name only, Green lines up all over the Tigers' offense — for his career, 52.8% in the slot, 31.7% in-line, 13.4% out wide — and he's turned into the best power forward in the country. Green, who played on LSU's basketball team as a freshman, is like a rebounder in the post when the ball is in the air. Thanks to his 6-foot-7 frame, Green caught 60% of his contested targets last year and scored seven touchdowns. Ole Miss will need to key in on him, especially in the red zone.

• Kewan Lacy, RB, Ole Miss

Considered one of the top running backs in the country and a potential first-round pick, Kewan Lacy set the Ole Miss single-season touchdown record in his first season with the program last year (24). After spending his freshman season at Missouri, Lacy landed in Oxford and earned first-team All-American honors while leading the Power Four in rushing touchdowns and finishing Top 3 nationally in forced missed tackles (89). If Lacy can provide explosives on the ground, it will help neutralize LSU's pass rush.

• Princewill Umanmielen/Jordan Ross, EDGE, LSU

Arguably the most impactful players thus far on Kiffin's first LSU team, both Princewill Umanmielen (10) and Jordan Ross (8) are Top 25 in the country in pressures. Umanmielen makes his return to Oxford on Saturday, too, after leading Ole Miss in pressures (51) and sacks (9) last year. Ross, a former five-star recruit, has been a breakout star for the Tigers thus far after tallying just 13 pressures and 1.5 sacks at Tennessee last season. These two might be the most important players for LSU against Ole Miss.

• Will Echloes/Kam Franklin, DL, Ole Miss

Although Golding lost Umanmielen to Kiffin's LSU team, he retained the two players who trailed him in pressures for Ole Miss last year. Will Echoles and Kam Franklin are two of the best interior defensive linemen in the SEC, and Echoles has a chance to be a Top 15 pick in April. Last year, the duo combined for 87 pressures, 56 run stops, 20.5 TFLs, and 10 sacks. This year, they'll need to create a ton of havoc inside against LSU to pull off the upset against their former head coach.

LSU vs Ole Miss rivalry history: Magnolia Bowl

LSU	Category	Ole Miss
64 (2 wins vacated)	Wins	43 (1 win vacated)
8 (1928-1937)	Longest win streak	6 (1952-1957)
49 (2011)	Largest margin of victory	34 (1963)
832-444-47 (.646)	Program record	702-554-35 (.557)
5 (5)	Claimed national titles (recognized)	3 (1)
16	Conference championships	6
3	Heisman winners	0
43	Consensus All-Americans	14
686	Weeks in the AP Poll	368
38	Weeks at No. 1	5
58 (30-25-1)	Bowl games (record)	46 (28-17)
395	NFL draft picks	273
54	First-round picks	24

Although not each other's biggest rivals (Ole Miss' is Mississippi State; in modern times LSU's has been Alabama), this rivalry has had moments of being one of the best in college football. And the Kiffin situation should only reignite the rivalry moving forward.

At its peak, LSU and Ole Miss were vicious rivals, especially from the mid-1930s through the 1960s — both programs were national powers and claimed national titles during this window of the rivalry. However, when the Rebels fell on tough times (early 70s to the mid-90s), the rivalry did too.

From 1970 to 1996, LSU went 19-7-1 against Ole Miss. But until Deuce McAllister, and then Eli Manning, helped revive Ole Miss, LSU pulled away in this rivalry. And once Ole Miss got back on its feet, it fell back down for a time after Manning left.

Meanwhile, LSU won three national titles under three different head coaches, produced two Heisman winners between 2003 and 2023, and became a college football blue blood in the process. Still, Ole Miss remains competitive in the rivalry, winning three of the last six Magnolia Bowls under Kiffin.

Recent Magnolia Bowl results

History of the LSU vs Ole Miss rivalry

When did the LSU vs Ole Miss rivalry start?

The first game between LSU and Ole Miss was played on Dec. 3, 1894; Ole Miss won 26-6 in Baton Rouge. And by 1901, the Magnolia Bowl, though it wasn't called that back then, was being played almost every year, with the longest gap between games being from 1921 to 1926. Since the end of World War II in 1945, the teams have played every season. 

What was the peak of the LSU vs Ole Miss rivalry?

The peak of the Magnolia Bowl rivalry was during the 1950s and 1960s when both teams were consistently nationally ranked and contending for national titles. There was a stretch when both teams were ranked in the Top 10 every year when they'd play, making the matchup massively important to the SEC Championship and national championship race.

The rivalry was so important that from 1936 to 1956, it was played at Tiger Stadium every single season except for one (1952) due to LSU's stadium having a larger capacity than Ole Miss'. 

During the peak of the rivalry, the entirety of former Ole Miss head coach John Vaught's tenure (1947-1970), the Rebels went 15-7-3 against LSU, winning six SEC Championships and claiming three national titles (one recognized). During that same stretch, LSU claimed one recognized national title (1958) and three SEC Championships. 

Why is it called the Magnolia Bowl?

The LSU vs. Ole Miss rivalry has only been known as the Magnolia Bowl since 2008, when student governments from both schools worked together to come up with the game's new rivalry name in an effort to "enhance the spirit of the football rivalry."

With the support of both athletics departments and alumni associations, the student bodies from both schools ran a "name that rivalry" campaign and received hundreds of entries, with the Magnolia Bowl being the winner because both Louisiana's and Mississippi's state flower is the magnolia. 

Along with the name, a Magnolia Bowl Trophy was designed and has been awarded to the winner each year. 

Best moments in the LSU vs Ole Miss rivalry

• Billy Cannon's Halloween run (1959)

The most legendary play in the history of the LSU-Ole Miss rivalry is Billy Cannon's Halloween run. No. 1 LSU was trailing No. 3 Ole Miss on Halloween in 1959 when Billy Cannon returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown late in the game. LSU's defense then made a goal-line stop to seal a 7-3 win. But Ole Miss would beat LSU later that year in the Sugar Bowl and claim its first national title.

• "The Night The Clock Stopped" (1972)

If Cannon's Halloween run game is the most legendary in this rivalry's history, the night the clock stopped is the most controversial. Unranked Ole Miss was leading No. 6 LSU 16-10 with four seconds left in the game. On what was expected to be the last play of the game with the Tigers on the Rebels' 10-yard line, QB Bert Jones threw an incompletion at the goal line, but one second still showed on the game clock. On the new last play, LSU scored and won. There's a sign at the Louisiana state line that reads, "You are now entering Louisiana. Set your clocks back four seconds."

• The three-year stretch of vacated wins (2012-14)

In very SEC fashion, one of the best stretches in the history of the Magnolia Bowl rivalry ended with all three wins being vacated (one of Ole Miss' and two of LSU's). In 2012, No. 7 LSU beat unranked Ole Miss 41-35. It came down to a Jeremy Hill rushing touchdown with 15 seconds left for the Tigers to win.

The next year, LSU was No. 6 and Ole Miss again unranked, but this time the Rebels got revenge. After blowing a 17-0 lead, Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace led a game-winning drive that ended with kicker Andrew Ritter hitting a field goal with 2 seconds left to win 27-24; it was the Rebels' first win against LSU since 2009. The next year, an undefeated No. 3 Ole Miss had a chance to tie No. 24 LSU at the end of the game, but a delay-of-game penalty knocked the Rebels out of field goal range, and they failed to convert on fourth down, losing 10-7.

Key figures in the LSU vs Ole Miss rivalry

• Billy Cannon, LSU

One of the greatest players in LSU history and the Tigers' first Heisman winner, the most memorable play of Cannon's career came against Ole Miss on Halloween in 1959. Cannon and the Tigers beat the Rebels 14-0 in 1958 as well, helping LSU win its first national title that season. The two-time All-American would go on to be the No. 1 pick in the 1960 NFL Draft and win three AFL Championships with the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders.

• John Vaught, Ole Miss

Nobody is more important to Ole Miss football than Vaught, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Vaught worked at Ole Miss from 1946 to 1978, and was head coach for the program's heyday, 1947-1970. From 1894 to 1946, LSU was 23-11 against Ole Miss. When Vaught took over as head coach in 1947, he went 15-7-1 against the Tigers and claimed three national titles along the way.

• Joe Burrow, LSU

Don't let Jayden Daniels know Joe Burrow is on this list, and he's not. But despite spending just two years in Baton Rouge, Burrow is the most important player in modern LSU history. Not only did he win the Heisman Trophy and lead LSU to a national title as the QB of maybe the greatest team in college football history, but he went 2-0 against Ole Miss. In those two wins, he accounted for nine total touchdowns and beat the Rebels by an average of 25 points. Burrow was so good he even made Ed Orgeron, who went 10-25 at Ole Miss, a national championship-winning head coach.

• Archie and Eli Manning, Ole Miss

Archie Manning is considered the best player in Ole Miss history, but Eli isn't far behind. When Archie arrived at Ole Miss, the Rebels were still a power under Vaught and beat LSU in two of his three seasons as the starting QB before he was selected with the No. 2 pick in the 1971 NFL Draft.

When Eli showed up, he helped Ole Miss fans remember what this program is capable of, and he beat Nick Saban's LSU in his first season as a starter. Though Eli and Ole Miss would lose the next two to Saban (by a combined four points), Manning led the program to its first double-digit win season since 1971 in 2003 before being selected No. 1 that April.

• Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss/LSU

As much as Ole Miss fans hate him, Kiffin has to be mentioned alongside the best coaches in Ole Miss history, and he certainly holds a special place in this rivalry now that he's switched sides. After Hugh Freeze ran amok of the program and Matt Luke cleaned it up, Kiffin came in and elevated Ole Miss to levels that it hadn't reached since Vaught was in charge.

Of the 11 double-digit win seasons in LSU history, Kiffin is responsible for four of them. He also ended LSU's five-game winning streak against Ole Miss in 2021, and won three of his final five Magnolia Bowls. Now, he's turning the hate in this rivalry up another notch. 

Biggest upsets in LSU vs Ole Miss history

Biggest blowouts in LSU vs Ole Miss rivalry 

LSU vs Ole Miss schedule & future matchups

The Magnolia Bowl is played every season, as LSU and Ole Miss are annual conference opponents in the SEC.

Pages related to this topic