Arkansas
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Ole Miss
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Texas A&M
LEAD STORY: Ole Miss Survives Louisville 41-38 in Nashville
No. 9 Ole Miss opened the 2026 season with a walk-off win Sunday night, edging No. 24 Louisville 41-38 at Nissan Stadium in the Music City Kickoff. The Rebels needed every second of the neutral-site opener against a ranked opponent, and they got the result on the game's final play — a fitting start for a team that entered September carrying top-10 expectations.
The 41-38 final was the kind of opener that tells you more than a tune-up ever could. Louisville arrived ranked and left with a three-point loss, meaning Ole Miss banked a Quadrant-A-caliber résumé win before most of the SEC had played a real opponent. Both offenses moved the ball freely, and the Rebels' ability to answer late is the detail that will carry into next week's film sessions.
The win extended one of the more remarkable trends in the sport: Ole Miss is now 98-29-5 (.764) all-time in season openers and has won 25 of its last 30 on the field. That is not a small sample — that is a program that shows up in Week 1, and it did so again against a ranked Louisville team in front of a national Sunday night audience.
QUICK HITS
Three Lady Vols sweep SEC weekly volleyball honors. Following a 2-0 week against a pair of Big Ten opponents, the SEC announced Monday that Tennessee's Kennedi Rogers was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week, Caroline Kerr earned Co-Setter of the Week, and middle blocker Jolene Oddo took Freshman of the Week. Three awards off one weekend is as loud a statement as an early-season volleyball résumé can make.
No. 8 Texas A&M draws its first real test. The Aggies opened with a 50-0 shutout of Missouri State, while Arizona State hammered Morgan State 70-7. The two meet Saturday, Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. at Kyle Field on ABC, with A&M favored by 14.5 and the total set at 51.5. It's a statistical top-five offense (Arizona State) against a statistical top-five defense (Texas A&M), sample size caveats and all. A&M won the only previous meeting, a 2015 neutral-site game at NRG Stadium. Aggie fans will wear a red, white and blue out marking the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11.
A&M's watch items: the line and the backfield. The offensive line was the one soft spot in the opener, though it improved considerably in the second half. Rueben Owens posted the best statistical day out of the backfield, but Jamarion Morrow, K.J. Edwards and Carsyn Baker all looked capable of absorbing a larger share — how those touches get distributed against a Power Four defense is the thing to track. Texas A&M held its game-week press conference Monday.
Nike expands NIL footprint at Texas. Nike partnered with 13 Texas student-athletes through its Blue Ribbon Elite program, with eight sports represented in the "Volume 2" class — a reminder that NIL infrastructure is now a year-round roster-building lever, not a football-only line item.
Olympic sports on the board. Van Beek led the way for the Georgia women's golf team in the opening round of the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, while Reau paced Texas A&M in the opening round at Folds of Honor. On the diamond, a 2026 fall exhibition baseball slate was announced, and Mizzou released its Week 1 mini movie from the Arkansas-Pine Bluff opener.
PORTAL WATCH
Quiet. No transfer portal activity was reported in the last 12 hours. That is the expected rhythm for early September — rosters are locked in, snap counts are being earned on the field, and the portal's next real wave won't arrive until the season's shape becomes clear.
RECRUITING BUZZ
No new commitments crossed in the last 12 hours. The most consequential recruiting-adjacent news is Nike's 13-athlete Blue Ribbon Elite class at Texas, which spans eight sports and gives the Longhorns a tangible, national-brand NIL talking point to put in front of prospects across the athletic department — not just in football.
GAMES TO WATCH
- No games scheduled today. The SEC's Monday slate is empty.
- Tuesday, 7 p.m. — Notre Dame at Georgia (volleyball), Stegeman Coliseum. The Bulldogs host the Fighting Irish as part of the 2026 Showdown at the Net, the SEC-ACC challenge event. First serve is 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Sept. 12, 11 a.m. — Arizona State at No. 8 Texas A&M, Kyle Field (ABC). The Aggies' first legitimately losable game of the season, and the first honest data point on who this team is.
