Ole Miss football to open 2021 season against Louisville

Published 12:00 pm Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Ole Miss will begin the 2021 season with a Power Five opponent.

The Rebels will open that season against Louisville in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork confirmed. The teams will play at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on either Aug. 28, Sept. 4 or Sept. 5 of that year.

FBSchedules.com first reported the matchup.

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Ole Miss will receive $4.25 million for playing in the game. As of now, it would be the first-ever meeting between the schools. Louisville, coached by Bobby Petrino, competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Ole Miss also has games already scheduled against Power Five teams for 2018 (Texas Tech), 2019 (Cal), 2022 (Georgia Tech), 2023 (Georgia Tech), 2024 (Wake Forest) and 2025 (Wake Forest). The Southeastern Conference mandated in 2014 that each of its schools schedule at least one Power Five opponent each season.