We’re officially a little over a week out from game day in the Sip, and as the calendar turns to Friday, it’s game week for Coach Pete Golding and the Ole Miss Rebels as they shift the focus to the matchup at hand with a College Football Playoff opening first-round game against Tulane next Saturday afternoon. These two met earlier in September with the Rebels taking round one 45-17, but the rematch is expected to be one for the ages, and Ole Miss has everything they started right there in front of them to finish. 

All that matters now for Ole Miss is finishing what they started. It’s that simple. Finish the job and deliver Mississippi its first National Championship in FBS college football. None of the outside noise matters now; what matters is taking care of Tulane, then letting the chips fall where they will as they get a rematch in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the SEC Champions, the Georgia Bulldogs, on New Year’s Day in New Orleans. 

As an early look at Tulane will tell you, the Green Wave is a vastly different team than the one that got blown out by Ole Miss in September, and in a road game at UTSA. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff has come into his own as he finds strides with his receivers, and you have a kicker in Patrick Durkin who is among the best in the country. Before getting to the defensive units, which have gotten a lot better since September. Tulane put together one of the best seasons in program history, winning the American Conference, a conference that many people view as the next step below the top half of the Power Four; in many circles, the AAC is another power conference. Tulane has been battle-tested, and this second go-around will need the A game to put Tulane away early on. 

For Ole Miss, this game week will be different; it’ll be unlike anything else they have ever felt before. All of those feelings are normal, but now the time to lock is here, and the Rebels are ready for that spotlight. We’ve seen it all season long, when the rumors started to swirl, those guys wearing the red and blue locked in and delivered each for Rebel Nation and finished the first half of the 2025 journey. Now it’s time to turn up the pressure and finish the season-long mission by taking one game at a time, starting with Tulane next Saturday. 

For the fans, game week is now more than just the players on the roster; you’re a part of this journey with those guys, enjoy every second because it’s been a long time coming. Take the pictures, buy the merchandise, and either get yourself inside of Vaught Hemingway or host a watch party next Saturday, and don’t let the outcome either way take away from the historic moment at hand for Ole Miss. Like the team, this game week will hit unlike anything you’ve experienced in your life, no matter what happens on Saturday, Ole Miss is playing in the College Football Playoffs and is right there in the room to potentially bring a National Championship trophy home to Oxford, Mississippi. 

Ole Miss and Tulane are slated for a College Football Playoff First Round matchup next Saturday, with kickoff coming your way at 2:30 on TNT. 

Photo Credits- Ole Miss Football on X