It’s Playoff Time in Oxford: Ole Miss football ranked No. 6 in CFP, Rebels set to host Tulane in first-round action

OXFORD, Miss. — It’s time for postseason football in Oxford! Ole Miss football is ranked No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings released Sunday. As a result, the Rebels, who finished with an 11-1 record on the season, will host No. 11 Tulane at Vaught-Hemingway.

Ole Miss and Tulane will play on December 20 at 2:30 pm. CT. The game will be broadcast on TNT and HBO Max.

2025-26 College Football Playoff Field

No. 6️⃣ Seed: Ole Miss // @OleMissFB#CFBPlayoff 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/9nv8guPbZE

— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) December 7, 2025

There were some shakeups in the rankings following the results of some of the key conference championship games.

The College Football Playoff Seedings

The Top 12 teams are in the playoffs. No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 14 BYU just miss out.

1. Indiana
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Alabama
10. Miami
11. Tulane
12. James Madison
13. Notre Dame
14. BYU

What this means for Ole Miss

Being the No. 6 seed, Ole Miss will now have a rematch with Tulane. The Rebels defeated the Green Wave, 45-10, back on September 20.

The winner of that No. 6 vs. No. 11 game will face the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals, and that No. 3 seed is Georgia. If Ole Miss defeats Tulane, they’ll travel to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to face the Bulldogs.

Quarterfinals

Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: (1) Indiana vs. (8/9) Winner
Cotton Bowl, Dec. 31: (2) Ohio State vs. (7/10) Winner
Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1: (3) Georgia vs. (6/11) Winner
Orange Bowl, Jan. 1: (4) Texas Tech vs. (5/12) Winner

First round

(12) James Madison at (5) Oregon | Dec. 20, 7:30 p.m. | Winner faces (4) Texas Tech
(9) Alabama at (8) Oklahoma | Dec. 19, 8 p.m. | Winner faces (1) Indiana
(11) Tulane at (6) Ole Miss | Dec. 20, 3:30 p.m. | Winner faces (3) Georgia
(10) Miami at (7) Texas A&M | Dec. 20, Noon | Winner faces (2) Ohio State

How the 12-Team College Football Playoff Works this season

This is just the second year of the expanded 12-team playoff, and it’s already reshaping the sport. With automatic bids, byes, and on-campus playoff games, the road to the national championship looks very different now — and a whole lot more exciting.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the format:

• The five conference champions ranked highest by the selection committee are automatically in.
• The remaining seven teams are the next seven highest-ranked schools.
• The four highest-ranked teams (no matter where they finished in their conferences) will be seeded No. 1-4 and receive first-round byes. This is new for the 2025-26 season, as last year, the four highest-ranked conference champions received the top four seeds and byes.
• The teams seeded No. 5-12 will play in the first round, with the higher seeds hosting (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 at No. 8.)
• There will be no re-seeding once the bracket is announced on Dec. 7.

College Football Playoff bracket 2025-26 dates

Here are the dates of the college football playoffs:

• First round: Dec. 19 and 20
• Quarterfinals: Dec. 31 and Jan. 1
• Semifinals: Jan. 8 and 9
• National championship: Jan. 19