Game of the Week · 2026 Week 3
Away
LSU
No. 7 in the AP poll
2-0 · SEC · poll released September 13, 2026
Home
Ole Miss
No. 8 in the AP poll
2-0 · SEC · poll released September 13, 2026
Saturday, September 19 · 7:30 p.m. ET
ABC · Vaught-Hemingway Stadium · Oxford, Mississippi
Kickoff, network and venue as announced, confirmed September 14, 2026.
Est. roster value
Each figure is The NIL Standard's estimated total value of that team's 2026 roster, produced by our valuation model across every active player and incoming signee it prices. Read live on September 14, 2026; these move whenever the model runs.
Correction, Oct. 29, 2026: An earlier version of this page valued Sam Leavitt at $6.0 million, a figure that traced to recruiting-site reporting. His 2026 value is now $4.0 million, our estimate; no established outlet has reported his LSU deal. An earlier version of this page valued Trinidad Chambliss at $6.0 million, the top of a reported range. His 2026 value is now $5.5 million, the midpoint of the $5 million to $6 million The Athletic reported.
How each roster was built
Share of each roster's estimated value by how the player arrived — retained from the program's own recruiting, acquired through the transfer portal, or an incoming signee. Percentages only.
LSU
- Retained
- 29.5%
- Portal
- 60.1%
- Recruit
- 10.4%
Across 88 valued roster spots.
Ole Miss
- Retained
- 62.3%
- Portal
- 33.1%
- Recruit
- 4.6%
Across 83 valued roster spots.
The two shapes are opposites. The larger share of LSU's estimated value arrived through the transfer portal; the larger share of Ole Miss's was developed in place. Same conference, and before it is a gap in total it is a gap in method.
The most expensive QB on each side
These are the highest-valued QBs on the two rosters — a statement about what each player costs, not about who is the better quarterback, and not a prediction about the game. Both are listed first at their slot on their team's depth chart.
$4,000,000
The NIL Standard's estimate
Weeks 1 and 2
41 of 66 for 574 yards, 2 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
8.7 yards per attempt, 62.1% completed. Rushing: 23 carries, 135 yards, 5 touchdowns.
- Week 1 vs Clemson:
- 16 of 28 for 230 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception
- Week 2 vs Louisiana Tech:
- 25 of 38 for 344 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 interceptions
Five of LSU's eight rushing touchdowns through two games are his.
$5,500,000
The NIL Standard's estimate
Weeks 1 and 2
44 of 62 for 561 yards, 5 touchdowns, 1 interception
9.0 yards per attempt, 71.0% completed. Rushing: 12 carries, 62 yards, 1 touchdown.
- Week 1 vs Louisville:
- 21 of 36 for 336 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception
- Week 2 vs Charlotte:
- 23 of 26 for 225 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions
One interception in 62 attempts. Ole Miss's only other interception through two games was thrown by his backup.
Both of those figures are overrides rather than model output. Trinidad Chambliss's traces to a figure that has been publicly reported, which we carry as our estimate; Sam Leavitt's is our own editorial estimate. Each replaces what the model would otherwise calculate, and the team totals above include them. Weeks 1 and 2 lines are from the official box scores, checked September 14, 2026.
The coach changed sides
Lane Kiffin was named LSU's head coach on November 30, 2025, after six seasons at Ole Miss; Ole Miss named Pete Golding, its defensive coordinator, to succeed him the same day. This is his first conference game in charge of LSU, and it is in the stadium he left.
Four Ole Miss players followed him through the transfer portal, as publicly reported. Every one is on LSU's roster as a portal acquisition, every one carries an estimate on our board, and three of the four are listed first at their slot on LSU's depth chart:
- Princewill Umanmielen, EDGE — RDE, listed first
- Winston Watkins Jr., WR — WR-SL, listed first
- TJ Dottery, LB — MLB, listed first
- Devin Harper, IOL — LG, listed second
That is what the two build shapes above are made of. The portal-heavy roster is, in large part, a first-year roster assembled by a coach hired at the end of last season; the retained-heavy roster is the core his successor inherited.
Coaching dates from the two schools' own announcements. Transfers as publicly reported by Sports Illustrated, July 29, 2026; roster status and depth-chart positions read live on September 14, 2026.
Last meeting
Ole Miss 24 – 19 LSU
September 27, 2025 · Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford
- Trinidad Chambliss: 23 of 39 for 314 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception; 14 carries, 71 yards, 0 touchdowns.
- Sam Leavitt: did not play in it; he was Arizona State's starter that season.
Official box score, checked September 14, 2026.
Roster values and build percentages read live on September 14, 2026. Weeks 1 and 2 figures from the official box scores, checked September 14, 2026. Kickoff, network, venue and both poll standings as announced, confirmed September 14, 2026 and subject to change before kickoff.