BREAKING: Ole Miss Quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’ Eligibility Fight Moves to Court After NCAA Denial of Appeal

OXFORD, Miss. — The NCAA has denied Trinidad Chambliss’ appeal for an additional year of eligibility, but the decision is far from the final word on whether the Ole Miss quarterback will take the field in 2026. Within the program, the ruling is viewed less as a setback and more as a procedural step in a process that was already headed toward the courtroom.

Pete Thamel was first to report the news of the denial.

Sources: The NCAA has denied Ole Miss’ appeal for Trinidad Chambliss’ sixth-year waiver. The NCAA athletics eligibility subcommittee denied the waiver, which was for a medical redshirt, and the school has been informed. pic.twitter.com/64TD9I1jrJ

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 5, 2026

Chambliss’ attorneys have filed for an injunction in state court in Mississippi. That’s expected to be heard on Feb. 12 in Chancery Court. Chambliss is seeking a redshirt year after not playing his second season at Ferris State.

— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 5, 2026

“The NCAA Athletics Eligibility Subcommittee’s decision to deny Trinidad’s appeal is indefensible in light of the undisputed facts,” the statement began.

“The NCAA staff and subcommittee asserted that Trinidad was not denied the opportunity to compete during the 2022 season, despite the reality that he did not dress for a single game while suffering from severe, incapacitating medical conditions. Those conditions were fully and contemporaneously documented by his treating physician, yet this waiver request was still denied when it should have been approved at the NCAA staff level.

“Trinidad’s representatives will continue to pursue all available legal remedies, and we will publicly stand behind Trinidad while holding the NCAA accountable for a decision that fails to align with its own rules, precedent, and the documented medical record.”

Chambliss and his legal team — led by attorneys Tom Mars and William Liston — had anticipated the possibility of an appeal denial and were prepared well in advance. In fact, a lawsuit has already been filed in Lafayette County Chancery Court in Oxford, Mississippi, seeking injunctive relief that would prevent the NCAA from enforcing its eligibility ruling while the case is litigated. That hearing is set for February 12, 2026.

By all indications, Chambliss’ camp believes it has a strong chance of securing at least a temporary injunction — a legal outcome that would allow him to play during the 2026 season as the case moves forward. That expectation has helped keep uncertainty to a minimum inside the Ole Miss program, even as the NCAA process reaches its conclusion.

The underlying facts of Chambliss’ eligibility case have not changed. After spending four seasons at Division II Ferris State — including a redshirt year and a national championship season — Chambliss transferred to Ole Miss ahead of the 2025 campaign. Initially expected to serve as a backup, he was thrust into the starting role early and went on to deliver one of the most productive seasons by a quarterback in school history.

Chambliss finished the year with 3,937 passing yards and 22 touchdowns, added 527 rushing yards and eight scores, and guided the Rebels to a 13–2 record and a berth in the College Football Playoff semifinals. That performance placed him squarely at the center of Ole Miss’ plans for the future — regardless of how the NCAA appeal played out.

From a practical standpoint, the denial does little to alter Ole Miss’ posture moving forward. The Rebels have operated under the assumption that the eligibility question would ultimately be resolved in court, not through the NCAA’s internal process. As a result, roster planning, NIL agreements, and offseason decisions have continued with Chambliss firmly in the picture.

If a temporary injunction is granted, Chambliss would be eligible to compete immediately in 2026 while the case proceeds — a scenario that has played out with increasing frequency in eligibility-related disputes nationwide. For Ole Miss, that outcome would preserve continuity at the most important position on the field and keep intact the foundation of a playoff-caliber roster.

In short, the NCAA’s denial may close one door, but it opens another — and it’s the one Ole Miss and Chambliss were already prepared to walk through.