Ole Miss an early favorite over Louisville in Music City Kickoff game

The calendar flipped to May on Friday and that means college football is roughly four months away from starting for Ole Miss. This also means the early odds are out for some key games in the opening weeks of the 2026 season.

Among the early odds released by BetMGM was the Rebels season opener against Louisville in Nashville over Labor Day weekend. The two teams are part of the Liberty Mutual Music City Kickoff, taking place on September 6 at Nissan Stadium.

Ole Miss opens as an early seven-point favorite over the Cardinals at BetMGM.

“We’re excited. It’s a Sunday night game. So, we’ll be the only show in town, literally in Nashville, but also kind of nationally with that game being played on ABC,” Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter told the Ole Miss Spirit in March. “That’ll be a really, really, cool matchup with Louisville. I think they’re going to have a good team.”

This will be the second time the two teams have played each other on a neutral field to open up their respective seasons in the last five years. Ole Miss and Louisville met in Atlanta to open up the 2021 season, also playing on September 6. The Rebels won 43-24.

Ole Miss and Southern California were set to play this season but the two-game home-and-home series was nixed. This caused an opening with a few options on the table but ultimately Carter and Ole Miss landed on Nashville against Louisville.

“Louisville kind of moved some things around and we were able to get this game done,” Carter added. “I think it’ll be great and, obviously, when you kick off your first game against a P4 opponent that’s going to be a very good opponent. We’ll get tested early.”

The game, set to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT, will officially start Pete Golding’s first full season as head coach of the Rebels as the program begins its follow up to finishing in the College Football Playoff semifinals last season.