OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss closed the season ranked No. 18 in the final USA TODAY coaches poll and for a team after a two-year postseason drought, the ranking is more than a number.
It points to a renewal under longtime coach Mike Bianco, but he probably feels it was disappointing not getting back to Omaha for the College World Series.
The Rebels finished the season at 43-21, marking their first NCAA tournament appearance since their 2022 national championship run.
Their journey ended in a narrow loss to Murray State in the Oxford Regional, but the return to postseason play restored a sense of momentum to a program that had begun to feel the weight of its own history.
“Getting back to the tournament is important, but it’s just the first step,” Bianco said after the season’s final game. “We’re proud of what we accomplished, but we expect more from ourselves and for our fans.”
The SEC, as usual, dominated the national conversation. Eight conference teams finished ranked in the top 25, with LSU sitting atop the final polls after sweeping Coastal Carolina in the College World Series finals.
For Ole Miss, the No. 18 finish was the lowest of the SEC’s ranked teams. That shows the league’s depth and the unforgiving nature of conference play the Rebels had to deal with all year.
The path back to relevance was anything but smooth.
Ole Miss endured its share of ups and downs throughout the spring, dropping key series but bouncing back with much-needed wins against ranked opponents.
The Rebels’ 43-win total stands as a stark contrast to their 27-29 record just a year prior, a turnaround that Bianco attributes to a core group of veterans and a handful of timely newcomers.
“We had a chip on our shoulder all season,” said junior shortstop Mason Nichols. “People doubted us after missing the tournament last year, but we never stopped believing we belonged.”
The season’s defining moment came on a Sunday night in Oxford, when Ole Miss exploded for 19 runs to force a winner-take-all game against Murray State. The atmosphere was electric, and the Rebels’ offense looked unstoppable.
Just one day later, the magic fizzled, and Murray State capitalized on untimely errors and missed opportunities to eliminate Ole Miss.
The Racers’ story didn’t end there advancing to the College World Series and finished No. 11 in the final poll.
For Bianco, whose career at Ole Miss now spans a quarter-century, the 2025 season offered both validation and a reminder of the program’s potential.
With over 1,000 career wins, Bianco is among the most accomplished coaches in college baseball.
“Mike Bianco is our head coach, and with his contract extended to the maximum four years, we look forward to seeing him lead Ole Miss to new heights,” said athletics director Keith Carter last fall.
Expectations remain sky-high in Oxford, where fans still remember the euphoria of 2022 and crave another deep postseason run.
As the dust settles, attention already turns to 2026. Bianco faces a significant rebuilding challenge after losing key contributors to graduation and the MLB Draft.
The transfer portal has become a lifeline for programs seeking immediate impact, and Ole Miss has wasted no time bolstering its roster. Five transfers headline the incoming class, including Grand Canyon pitcher Grant Richardson and San Diego State’s Marko Sipila, both expected to compete for weekend rotation spots.
Recruiting has become a year-round endeavor, and the new arrivals signal a shift in strategy for Bianco, who has traditionally leaned on homegrown talent.
“The portal changes everything,” he said this spring. “You can’t just sit back and wait on freshmen anymore. If you want to compete in this league, you have to be aggressive and creative.”
The challenge now is forging chemistry among returning veterans and newcomers, a task that will define the 2026 campaign.
Looking back, the 2025 Rebels will be remembered never quitting.
After falling behind early in the SEC standings, they rallied with a late-season surge, punctuated by dramatic wins over Georgia Tech and Florida.
“There were moments when it felt like our backs were against the wall every weekend,” said senior outfielder Jacob Gonzalez. “But that’s what this league does. It tests you, and it makes you better.”
The broader landscape of college baseball is shifting, with the SEC’s dominance as pronounced as ever.
The league’s eight ranked teams underscore the gap between the nation’s elite and the rest of the field. LSU’s national title is the latest reminder that the path to Omaha runs through the SEC and Ole Miss, despite this season’s progress, remains on the outside looking in when it comes to championship contention.
The combination of returning talent, seasoned leadership, and an influx of transfers gives Ole Miss a foundation on which to build. The challenge will be integrating the new faces and recapturing the magic of their 2022 run.
“We’ve got the pieces,” Bianco said. “Now it’s about putting them together and believing we can get back to Omaha.”
That’s where the Rebel fans have expectations for next season.
