2025 Egg Bowl date, kickoff time revealed

The 2025 Egg Bowl will once again be played on Black Friday, one day after its usual spot on Thanksgiving, Ole Miss announced Thursday. The 2025 edition of Mississippi’s annual in-state rivalry between Ole Miss and Mississippi State will kick off at 11 am CT, Friday, Nov. 28, in Starkville.

This is the second consecutive season the Egg Bowl will be played on a Friday, but just the sixth time in the series’ lengthy history, joining 1916, 1921, 2007, and 2008. Ole Miss won last year’s Black Friday game 26-14 in Oxford.

The Rebels, led by sixth-year head coach Lane Kiffin, has won four of the last five Egg Bowls, including the last two games held in Starkville. Meanwhile, second-year Mississippi State coach Jeff lebby is still searching for his first win in the series.

2025 will mark the 122nd all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Mississippi State, with the Rebels holding a 66-47-6 advantage in the rivalry. It will be the 98th Battle for the Golden Egg, with Ole Miss doubling up the Bulldogs 60-30-5 since the trophy’s introduction in 1927.

Report: ESPN willing to pay ‘range’ of $50-80 million more for 9th SEC game

ESPN is willing to pay a range of $50-80 million more to the SEC for a ninth conference game, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand and Seth Emerson reported. The league is expected to renew discussions about expanding the league slate from eight games to nine.

The network has not made a formal offer, according to The Athletic, and the exact amount of additional money ESPN is willing to pay is also not clear. A nine-game SEC schedule was discussed last year, but tabled as the College Football Playoff got ready to expand to 12 teams.

Commissioner Greg Sankey cited the need to see how the committee weighs strength of schedule in the decision to hold off on a decision. Additionally, Oklahoma and Texas joined the league, and those additions played a role in avoiding a final move.

The 2024 season marked the SEC’s first under its exclusive media rights deal with ESPN and ABC. It turned into an impressive debut for the Disney networks as eight of the 10 most-watched teams in college football came from the SEC. Sankey also said Disney would have a seat at the table for discussions about an expanded schedule.

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.