Ole Miss will benefit from playing Washington State instead of Wake Forest in 2025

While it might be annoying for Ole ma’am having to reschedule the game against Wake Forest in 2025 will ultimately save the Rebels money. Who doesn’t like having a little extra green in their pocket, right?

The rebels will taking on Washington State instead of the Demon Deacons at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on October 11, 2025. According to The Clarion ledgerOle Miss will pay $400,000 to host the game in Oxford.

How will this affect the school’s bank accounts? 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 predetermined Winston-Salem head-to-head matchup. Wake Forest informed Ole Miss days before the deadline that it would cancel half of the home-and-home series and would owe $750,000.

Since it only costs Ole Miss $400,000 to play the Pac-12 schedule, the school will pocket more than $300,000 thanks to Wake Forest’s decision. The team also earned a 40-6 victory over the Deacs in Week 3, snapping a 1-0 streak in the series.

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

“I don’t know much about them lately other than it sounds like they’re playing really well this year,” Rebels coach Lane Kiffin said recently.

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

Kiffin was not a fan of Wake Forest’s decision to withdraw as it would put pressure on the team to find a common opponent that would meet the criteria needed for an SEC football schedule established by the competition office. Cost also seemed to play an important role, as according to the ruling states, one power conference should be planned with minimal teams.

“Even if you find someone, you have to pay them,” Kiffin said earlier this season. “It’s actually a kind of unwritten rule not to withdraw from competitions.”

As a final warning, the current deal does not require the Rebels to travel to Pullman for a rematch against the Cougars. However, if either school pulls out of the deal, they will owe the opponent $400,000 in fees.

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