Three weeks from National Signing Day and three days from Norman, Wednesday’s show was all about the future — the quarterback Ole Miss already has in the building, what Oklahoma’s head coach just admitted about last year’s loss, and why a 24-team playoff is about to change everything for a program built like this one. Here’s the rundown.
Keegan Croucher is the best high school quarterback in America
I’ll say it plainly — Keegan Croucher is “the best high school quarterback in America to me, and Ole Miss has him.” The recruiting rankings haven’t caught up yet. Rivals has him as the No. 5 quarterback in the 2027 class and the industry composite has him 10th, but the tape says he’s the best one on the board. He’s 6-foot-4-and-a-half, grew up in upstate New York, and this past January he moved to Chattanooga to enroll at the Baylor School because he wanted college-level film, a real strength program and coaching that looks like the next level. Through his first five games this fall he completed 74% of his throws with 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions — in a brand-new offense, in a brand-new state, with a target on his back every Friday night.
The part that tells you who he is: when Lane Kiffin left for LSU, Croucher didn’t flinch, and he pointed to one name — Pete Golding — as the reason he stayed committed. That matters, because for years Ole Miss built through the transfer portal, and now Golding is assembling a high school class with the quarterback of the future already on campus. The early signing period runs December 2–4, Ole Miss sits at 23 commitments, and On3’s industry ranking has the class 14th nationally and 8th in the SEC with 14 four-stars. When those signatures start coming in, Croucher is the first name I’m looking for. I think he’s the QB2 in 2027, and that ceiling cannot be overstated.
Brent Venables told you exactly how Oklahoma lost last year
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables opened his Tuesday press conference on Ole Miss and went straight to the quarterback, calling Trinidad Chambliss arguably the best player in college football and comparing his escapability to Vince Young — the worst thing you can do, Venables said, is cover everybody, because once Chambliss takes off he’s almost impossible to get on the ground. Venables lived it: last October Ole Miss walked into Norman and won 34–26, with Chambliss throwing for 315 yards and running for 53 more.
He was blunt about why the Sooners lost. Oklahoma played well on early downs, he said, but Ole Miss was sharper on third and fourth down, and he conceded the plan simply wasn’t good enough. The numbers back it: Ole Miss converted nine third downs that day to Oklahoma’s four and held the ball more than 35 minutes. So the blueprint for Saturday is the same one from a year ago — win third down, keep Chambliss on the field, and get Oklahoma off it before those 15- and 20-play drives can start. Venables also made a point of praising Golding and the Ole Miss kicker, and framed the Rebels as a desperate team that still has a path.
A 24-team playoff is a home run for Ole Miss
The College Football Playoff is expanding to 24 teams in 2027, and for a program built like Ole Miss, it’s a home run. Here’s the shape of it: the four Power Four champions and the top Group of Six team get automatic bids, the other 19 are at-large, the top eight seeds get a bye, seeds 9 through 16 host first-round games, and 17 through 24 go on the road. The conference championship games go away.
Think about who that’s built for. Not Georgia or Ohio State — they were getting in at 12 anyway. It’s built for the program that wins nine games in a good year and eight in a normal one. The receipt: in 2024, Ole Miss went 9–3, finished 14th, and got left out of a 12-team field. Under the new math, that team is in. But getting in isn’t the same as playing at home, and the number that actually matters is 16. We all saw what a home playoff game did for Oxford last year. So the standard question for a program like this is no longer in or out. It’s host, not host, or miss it entirely — and you already know what playing at home is worth.
The honest caveat: this isn’t the Golding defense of a year ago
Now the hard part, because the Georgia loss left the fan base arguing with itself. The thing a lot of people are circling without quite saying it: Pete Golding isn’t the defensive coordinator he was in 2025, much less 2024 — not because of the talent, but because he’s now a head coach who delegates and calls it on game day instead of living inside that defense all week. That behind-the-scenes grind was what made him special as a coordinator, and the setup is simply different now.
Here’s the flip side, and it’s the part worth sitting with: the offense has been good enough. If Ole Miss had even an average defense this season, this is probably an 8–1 football team. The scorelines say the defense let this group down, not the other way around. The Rebels are 6–3, and Saturday in Norman is a get-right game — winnable, but tricky against a talent deficit, and a loss would be the kind that starts a slide.
Also on the show
Ole Miss legend Bill Flowers stopped in for the day’s guest spot and did not mince words about the Georgia film, calling it the worst showing he’s ever seen from the Rebels and laying it at the feet of the staff — “it’s 100% the coaching,” he said, arguing Ole Miss has the personnel to spread Oklahoma out five-wide and simply isn’t using it. He still picked the Rebels to win, 28–21. The show also had a Locked On Sooners crossover teed up for Oklahoma week.
That’s the show. Three days to Norman. Hotty Toddy.
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