The anticipated football games between USC and Ole Miss are no more. The home-and-home series featuring the two schools, scheduled for 2025 and 2026, was canceled, according to Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.
The Clarion-Ledger was the first to report the cancellation news.
The series was announced in May 2020, a few months after Ole Miss hired Kiffin as coach. Kiffin coached USC from 2010 to 2013.
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Kiffin said the cancellation happened “awhile ago,” with USC’s move to the Big Ten and the uncertainty around the SEC schedule contributing to the decision to cancel the series. Georgia has a series with UCLA from 2025-26 that could also go by the wayside.
“I do think some of those things might be taking place around the conference, just because of realignment of the teams that went to the Big Ten and different scheduling on their part, and then down here, there’s an uncertainty about nine conference games,” Kiffin said. “There’s been a lot of talk that that’s the direction it’s headed, nine conference games, and the difference in scheduling people, and people potentially having extra games with the Playoffs.”
When the series was announced in 2020, it helped USC fill out its nonconference slate in 2026 and put the Trojans one game away from finalizing their 2025 nonconference schedule. But this was before USC left the Pac-12 and moved into the Big Ten. In USC’s 12-game schedule, nine matchups are against Big Ten schools.
As for Ole Miss, they play eight conference games and one against a power conference opponent outside the SEC. Under the current SEC scheduling rules, Ole Miss will play Wake Forest in 2025 but the Rebels need to find a power conference opponent for 2026.
Ole Miss’ last home-and-home series with a marquee nonconference opponent was Texas in 2012 and 2013.
USC opens its 2024 season on Sept. 1 against LSU. Ole Miss faces Furman on August 31 in its 2024 season opener.
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(Photo: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)