Locked On Ole Miss - Daily podcast on Ole Miss Rebels Football, Basketball & Baseball

Everybody wants to know where Ole Miss lands in the polls after 31-3. That's the wrong question. Missouri ran for 39 yards, Ole Miss won by 28 on a day Trinidad Chambliss went 20 of 36, and FanDuel still has the Rebels as a 3.5-point underdog at a Texas team that has lost two straight. The market sees a good team, not a great one. Five days to Texas. Twelve to Auburn. Steven Willis breaks down the three things we learned from Ole Miss 31, Missouri 3, then answers the question Saturday's chaos created: with five of the top seven teams losing on the same day, would it surprise anyone if Ole Miss won everything? Then the SEC Week 8 lines, and what Austin decides about January.

Ole Miss didn't just beat Missouri. It embarrassed a ranked team in Oxford: 31-3, 257 rushing yards to 39, and no Missouri touchdowns. Then five of the top seven teams in the country lost on the same Saturday. So here's the question for Sunday: is Ole Miss a top 5 team? Final: Ole Miss 31, Missouri 3. Ole Miss is 5-1, 3-1 SEC. Next: at Texas, Saturday, Oct. 24, 6:30 PM CT on ABC. Steven Willis is live with the Sunday Reaction: the case for Ole Miss in the top 5, the case against, and two full segments built on YOUR comments. Drop yours in the chat and it might make the show.

The 24-team playoff isn't the story today. A second loss is. Ole Miss and Missouri walk into Vaught-Hemingway Stadium one loss apiece, and under this year's 12-team format whoever leaves with two still has Georgia on the schedule. Next year's playoff rewards teams that win days like this one. This year's playoff might not forgive losing it. Today: Missouri at Ole Miss, the 99th Homecoming. Kickoff 3:30 PM ET / 2:30 PM CT on SEC Network. Next week: Texas. Steven Willis goes live with Mike Huesmann for the last word before kickoff: the injury report, the final availability report live when it drops at 2:00 ET, what the coming 24-team playoff means for Ole Miss, the keys to beating Missouri, and a final score from everyone, including you in the chat. 📌 THREE THINGS 1. The 24-team playoff is close, but not today. The AP reported Friday that the College Football Playoff and ESPN have a handshake agreement on a framework to expand to 24 teams starting next season, with first-round byes for the top eight and the first two rounds on campus. The contract isn't finished, and this year is still 12 teams. 2. Ole Miss plays without Edwin Joseph. Friday's SEC availability report lists the safety out, with MJ Preston questionable. Missouri is without running back Ahmad Hardy, but Austin Simmons is off the report and Cayden Lee is probable. The final report drops at 2:00 PM ET, during this stream. 3. Throw first, lead early. Missouri allows 78.3 rushing yards a game. Ole Miss throws for 300.6, has outscored opponents 109-33 in the first half, and has won 14 straight in Oxford.

Every take on a 24-team College Football Playoff says it kills the regular season. That's the wrong line. The CFP is nearing a deal to double to 24 teams in 2027, per ESPN's reporting, with five automatic bids, 19 at-large spots and the first two rounds on campus. For fans who watched bowl season die, Steven Willis says it's "the first time in a very long time that the fans got something," and for Ole Miss it makes the playoff the floor, not the goal. Tomorrow, Missouri. Eight days to Texas. Steven Willis and the mayor of Corinth, Tom Vanderford, break down why a 24-team playoff is good for fans and for Ole Miss, how the SEC's nine-game schedule forced the issue, and what decides Saturday against Missouri: the Ole Miss defense against Jamal Roberts. Then Tom gives his final score.

Most of Missouri week has been about three former Rebels coming home. That's the wrong line. Ole Miss legend Todd Wade, who played on the offensive line, calls this "the game of the year for Ole Miss," and says it gets decided up front: Ole Miss allows one sack a game, best in the SEC, against a Missouri defense with 15 sacks, per the Ole Miss game notes. Tomorrow, Missouri. Eight days to Texas. Steven Willis and Ole Miss legend Todd Wade break down how Ole Miss fixed itself against Vanderbilt, the 1999 team and its close losses, why Ole Miss's pass protection is the matchup to watch, and how to speed up Austin Simmons. Then Todd gives his final score for Missouri.

SEC playoff hopes hang in the balance as Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, and Ole Miss face elimination showdowns. Can Josh Heupel’s Tennessee defense stifle Alabama’s high-powered offense, or will DeSean Bishop and Keelon Russell lead the Crimson Tide to a comeback following their emotional loss to Georgia? Meanwhile, Missouri aims to prove they’re a true dark horse against Ole Miss, with Austin Simmons and Jamal Roberts primed to exploit the Rebels’ struggling defense. The SEQ Squad breaks down key matchups, quarterback controversies, and injury impacts across the SEC. From Kentucky’s gritty rise and Florida’s quarterback dilemma, to Mississippi State’s star-studded injury report and Georgia’s quest for continued dominance, the panel tackles bold predictions, game-changing strategies, and must-watch storylines. Which team will separate itself in a weekend packed with season-defining clashes?

The Missouri week question everyone keeps asking is whether three former Rebels know too much about Ole Miss. That's the wrong line. Ole Miss legend Bill Flowers says Saturday comes down to whether Pete Golding's defense can get Austin Simmons off his spot, and Simmons has 14 touchdown passes against one interception this season, per the Ole Miss game notes. Ole Miss forced four takeaways at Vanderbilt after only two in its first four games, and that is the defense Bill says has to show up again. Three days to Missouri. Ten to Texas. Steven Willis brings in Ole Miss legend Bill Flowers to break down the 52-17 rout at Vanderbilt, why the offense finally looked like the one Ole Miss was promised, whether Blake Purchase is the transfer buy of the offseason, and what Ole Miss has to do to Austin Simmons on Saturday. Bill ends with his final score.

Most coaches spend the Monday after a 52-17 win taking a victory lap on four takeaways. That's the wrong read on Pete Golding's press conference. He downgraded his own turnovers ("we're a step late right now"), named three former Rebels on Missouri's roster, and said two of them left because an appeal had not been decided. Now No. 13 Missouri brings a back who just ran for 222 yards to Oxford. Four days to Missouri. Eleven to Texas. Steven Willis goes through Pete Golding's Missouri week press conference one "He Said What?" moment at a time: why Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee left, why Golding isn't satisfied with four takeaways, and the offensive line that won player of the game as a unit for the first time this season. Plus why Ole Miss and Missouri is the SEC game of the week, and the one thing Ole Miss cannot do on Saturday.

Every take on Ole Miss 52, Vanderbilt 17 has been about the scoreboard. That's the wrong number. Ole Miss missed 14 tackles in three straight games and six at Vanderbilt, and a pass rush that produced six pressures at Florida produced 19 with three sacks in Nashville. Pete Golding says there was not one new call in the game plan. Five days to Missouri. Twelve to Texas. Steven Willis breaks down what the Vanderbilt win taught us: why Ole Miss is a different team when it is aggressive on both sides of the ball, how Blake Purchase and Suntarine Perkins took over the game, and why this offense works when the pass sets up the run. Then the case that this team is exactly what we thought it was in August, and why the Florida loss may have been worth it. Plus every SEC Week 7 line on FanDuel and what the board says about Ole Miss's path to a December game in Oxford.

The easy take is that 52-17 settles it. It doesn't. Ole Miss led Vanderbilt 42-3 at halftime, then lost the second half 14-10, and Vandy ran for 72 of its 103 yards after the break. The first half proved the defense can fix Gainesville. The second half is the question Missouri will ask on Saturday in Oxford.

Everyone is watching the radar. That's the wrong worry. Rain doesn't decide football games; a defense that missed 62 tackles for 482 yards does, and today in Nashville is its first chance to answer for Gainesville. The weather that can change this game is the wind, up to 45 mph in gusts under a Wind Advisory, and a lightning delay nobody wants. Today: Ole Miss at Vanderbilt. Kickoff 3:30 PM ET / 2:30 PM CT on ESPN. Steven Willis goes live with Mike Huesmann and Corey Burton of Locked On Vandy for the last word before kickoff: the storm, Jared Curtis's return, Kewan Lacy's status as the final availability report drops, what each side has to do, and a final score from everyone, including you in the chat.

Vanderbilt is starting its five-star freshman, and the easy read is that Jared Curtis makes Saturday harder for Ole Miss. That's the wrong read. Steven Willis says Curtis is the better matchup for Pete Golding, because a defense that gave up 302 rushing yards at Florida has more to fear from Blaze Berlowitz's misdirection option game than from a freshman in the pocket. Tomorrow: Ole Miss at Vanderbilt. Saturday, 2:30 PM CT / 3:30 PM ET, ESPN. Steven Willis and Michael Katz of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal on the Curtis start, what the Adidas money buys, a uniform reset, the storm, a 2006 lightning delay Steven watched from the press box, and Katz's call.

Georgia Bulldogs aim to break Alabama Crimson Tide’s regular season dominance as Kirby Smart hunts for his elusive Tuscaloosa victory. Can Keelon Russell replicate Jalen Milroe and Ty Simpson’s legendary quarterback performances against the nation’s top-rated secondary, or will Gunner Stockton and a reshuffled Georgia backfield deliver clutch plays in a matchup loaded with playoff implications? The SEC Squad previews SEC Week 6’s biggest battles, from the weather-threatened Georgia-Alabama showdown to Texas vs. Oklahoma at the Red River rivalry. Key debates spotlight injury updates (Chauncey Bowens, Josh Ford, Nate Frazier), Mizzou’s surge behind Jamal Roberts, and potential coaching shakeups at South Carolina and Arkansas. Which teams will survive must-win games, and who emerges as playoff contenders down the stretch?