We’ve made it, all that waiting, navigating an ice storm has led us back to the friendly confines of Swazye Field for another season of Ole Miss baseball. It’s hard to describe to folks who have never experienced the beauty of Swayze Field, but the start of every season of Ole Miss baseball brings a whirlwind of emotions and excitement for what’s to come. There aren’t many other places in the country that have what Ole Miss has with the facilities, the winning traditions, combined with consitent talented roster, and a fan base that not only cares about Rebel baseball, but cares about the overall well-being of the sport of college baseball. With a new season of Ole Miss baseball upon us, breaking down the impending season just one more time feels like the right way to pass the time until Friday. 

Coming into the 2026 season, Ole Miss has a fair mix of 15 returning guys from last season and 19 newbies to the Ole Miss program. Last season, despite falling short in the Oxford Regional, Ole Miss overachieved as they were picked to finish in the bottom half of the Southeastern Conference, but ended the season by earning a trip to the SEC Tournament Championship game, before returning to Swayze Field to host another Regional. Sure, they were the first victim of Murray State, but last season the roster had turnover, and yet they were still in the conversation, with only the level of success that a Coach Mike Bianco team can deliver. Like they were last year, around this time, Ole Miss comes into the 2026 season unranked and picked to finish 10th in the Southeastern Conference, a place that seems to ignite something inside of the Rebels to show out and prove the preseason talking heads wrong. 

Before taking a final look at the roster and impact players, let’s talk about the challenging but manageable non-conference slate for the 2026 Ole Miss Rebels. 

Ole Miss will open the 2026 season on Friday as it welcomes the Wolfpack of Nevada to Swayze Field for a three-game series. From there, two midweek home game Arkansas State and Jackson State, before Missouri State comes to Oxford next weekend for another three-game series, Ole Miss will then close out the home slate with a midweek with SEMO, before heading to Houston, where the Rebels will face Baylor, Ohio State, and Coastal Carolina. Before opening SEC play, Ole Miss will have midweek home games against Memphis and North Alabama, followed by the final home non-conference series against Evansville. Right before heading to Texas to open SEC play, Ole Miss has a road midweek game at Southern Miss for a final tuneup before the gauntlet of Southeastern Conference play. To break up the conference slate, Ole Miss will have midweeks with Austin Peay, Little Rock, Alcorn State, Southern Miss in Pearl, Murray State, Mississippi State, and then UT Martin. So again, there are some challenges, but Ole Miss should be able to handle the non-conference slate with very little struggle and even have a chance to make a statement in Houston with a win over Coastal Carolina. 

Now, the conference slate is difficult to say the least, but so goes it in the SEC. Ole Miss opens SEC play with a road trip to Texas, before returning home to face Kentucky and Mississippi State in back-to-back weekends. From there, home series against LSU, Georgia, and Texas A&M, while facing challenging road tests at Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, and then to Alabama to face the Crimson Tide before making the drive over to Hoover for the week at the SEC Tournament. Again, hard, but there are some real chances for Ole Miss to play their way into the conversation of hosting another Oxford Regional and to earn an easier path forward to get back to the College World Series. 

So, let’s talk roster. 

Starting with the Opening Weekend starters on the mound, per Coach Mike Bianco himself. Friday night will be all about Hunter Elliott, Saturday will be Cade Townsend, and Sunday will be Will Libbert. Both Hunter Elliott and Cade Townsend are familiar faces for Ole Miss fans. Will Libbert transferred to Ole Miss from Missouri via the transfer portal. It’s expected for Hudson Calhoun to be the 4th starter, while the transfer from North Dakota State, Landon Koenig, will likely be the closer. Those five guys are likely the glue for this pitching staff that Coach Bianco likes so much heading into the 2026 season. 

Elsewhere around the roster, Ole Miss fans will have more familiar faces in Austin Fawley at catcher, Will Furniss at first base, Judd Utermark at third base, Brayden Randle at shortstop, Hayden Federico at centerfield, and Collin Reuter at designated hitter. From there, Ole Miss fans will likely see three transfers to round out the starting lineup for the Rebels. Dom Decker ( Murray State) at second base, Daniel Pacella at left field (Illinois State), and Tristan Bissetta ( Clemson) at right field. Again, a really good mix of returning guys who led the way for the Rebels last season, and a few transfer guys who are expected to come right in and add experience to the lineup for the Rebels. 

Overall, Ole Miss once again has the pieces to shock the college baseball world once again as they look to take the offseason lack of respect by completely flipping the script by embracing the challenge and proving them wrong. Ole Miss did it last year, now the core of those guys are back this season, so who’s to say that when we look at Ole Miss come May that the Rebels are not right not there in the conversation for only a Regional host site, but in the conversation of being a top-eight seed with the potential to be one of the favorites to reach the College World Series and have a chance to win another National Championship. Coach Biacno has Judd Utermark, Hayden Federico, Austin Fawley, Hunter Elliott, and Cade Townsend all back and ready to take the Rebels back to that conversation. There’s talent on the roster, and in recent memory, when you bet against a Coach Mike Bianco-led team, then good things tend to happen for Ole Miss; it’s how they won the National Championship in 2022. People doubted them, the Rebs got hot, and they brought a National Championship back to Oxford. 

Ole Miss will open the season on Friday night with a three-game series with Nevada at Swayze Field. 

Photo Credits: Ole Miss baseball on X