Home and away games between USC and Ole Miss scheduled for 2025 and 2026 canceled

The highly anticipated football games between USC and Ole Miss are no longer taking place. The home and away series between the two schools scheduled for 2025 and 2026 has been canceled, said Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin.

The Clarion-Ledger was the first to report on the magazine’s closure.

The series was announced in May 2020, a few months after Ole Miss hired Kiffin as coach. Kiffin coached USC from 2010 to 2013.

Kiffin said the cancellation was made “some time ago,” with USC’s move to the Big Ten and uncertainty surrounding the SEC schedule contributing to the decision to cancel the series. Georgia has a series with UCLA in 2025-2026 that could also be canceled.

“I think some of those things could happen within the conference, just because of the realignment of the teams that went to the Big Ten and the different scheduling on their part, and then there’s an uncertainty down here about nine conference games,” Kiffin said. “There’s been a lot of talk about it going in that direction, nine conference games and people’s different schedules and the possibility of people having additional games with the playoffs.”

When the series was announced in 2020, it helped USC complete its 2026 non-conference schedule, and the Trojans were one game away from completing their 2025 non-conference schedule. But that was before USC left the Pac-12 and moved to the Big Ten. USC’s 12-game schedule includes nine matchups against Big Ten schools.

Ole Miss plays eight conference games and one against a power conference opponent outside of the SEC. Under current SEC scheduling rules, Ole Miss will play Wake Forest in 2025, but the Rebels must find a power conference opponent for 2026.

Ole Miss’ last home-and-away series with a notable non-conference opponent was against Texas in 2012 and 2013.

USC opens its 2024 season on September 1 against LSU. Ole Miss will face Furman on August 31 in the 2024 season opener.

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