Ole Miss Set to Profit From Playing Washington State Instead of Wake Forest in 2025

The Ole Miss Rebels will actually make money following Wake Forest's cancelation of the 2025 matchup.

Oct 26, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin watches during a time out during the second half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

While it might end up being annoying for Ole Miss to have to reschedule its matchup against Wake Forest in 2025, it ends up saving the Rebels money. Who doesn’t enjoy keeping a little extra green in their pockets, right?

The Rebels will face off against Washington State in place of the Demon Deacons at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Oct. 11, 2025. According to The Clarion Ledger, Ole Miss will pay $400,000 for the game to occur in Oxford.

How does this affect the bank accounts of the school? The Cougars were willing to take less money to travel from Pullman than the Demon Deacons were to make the trip as part of a pre-determined head-to-head matchup from Winston-Salem. Wake Forest notified Ole Miss days before the deadline that it would cancel its half of the home-and-home series and would owe $750,000.

Since it will only cost Ole Miss $400,000 to play the Pac-12 program, the school will pocket over $300,000 because of Wake Forest’s decision. The team also secured a 40-6 win back in Week 3 on the road over the Deacs, thus giving them a 1-0 streak in the series.

The deal becomes an even bigger bargain when looking at other prices for inferior competition. The Cougars, who will be the flagship of the soon-to-be reformed Pac-12, remain in the College Football Playoff hunt at 7-1 entering their Week 11 showdown with Utah State. This will also mark the first time in program history the Cougars and Rebels have play each other in football.

"I don't know a whole lot about them lately except it sounds like they are playing really good this year," Rebels coach Lane Kiffin recently said.

Ole Miss paid Furman $500,000 for its season opener. Middle Tennessee, who traveled to Oxford in Week 2, and Georgia Southern, who served as the final non-conference game of the 2024 season, were each paid $1.6 million.

Kiffin wasn’t a fan of Wake Forest’s decision to back out since it would put pressure on the team to find a common opponent to fit the criteria needed for an SEC football schedule set by the league office. Cost also seemed to play a significant role since the ruling states one power conference must be on the schedule with minimal teams made available.

“Even when you find somebody, you've got to go pay them,” Kiffin said earlier this season. “It's kind of an unwritten rule not to (back out of games), actually."

As a final caveat, the Rebels won’t have to travel to Pullman for a rematch against the Cougars because of the current deal. However, if either school backs out of the deal, they would owe the opponent $400,000 in fees.

Ole Miss travels to Fayetteville this weekend to take on Arkansas at Razorback Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT.