The Ole Miss Rebels have added the Eastern Illinois Panthers to their 2027 football schedule, FBSchedules.com has learned.
Ole Miss will host Eastern Illinois at Vaught‑Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Saturday, August 28, 2027. The Rebels will pay the Panthers a $500,000 guarantee for the matchup, according to a copy of the contract obtained from the University of Mississippi through a state open‑records request.
The game marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs. Ole Miss is 4–1 all-time against current Ohio Valley Conference members, while Eastern Illinois is winless in four previous contests against SEC opponents.
Eastern Illinois becomes the final addition to Ole Miss’s 2027 non‑conference schedule. The Rebels are also slated to host Charlotte on Sept. 4 and Oregon State on Sept. 18.
With the Panthers now on the docket, Ole Miss has four future FCS opponents lined up: Wofford (2026), Eastern Illinois (2027), Alcorn State (2028), and Southeast Missouri (2029).
Ole Miss is the fifth non‑conference opponent on Eastern Illinois’ 2027 slate, tentatively completing its schedule. The Panthers are scheduled to visit Tennessee Tech on Sept. 11 and Illinois on a date to be determined, before hosting Illinois State on Sept. 18 and Murray State on Sept. 25.
Eastern Illinois also has future FBS matchups scheduled against Kentucky in 2028 and Indiana in 2029.
So Ole Miss is going to dare the league to count Oregon State as Power 4, I guess?
Looks like this game was originally scheduled in 2019, so I guess you go for the grandfather clause, but considering 2027 will be the 4th season of the Beavers no longer a power conference program that seems awfully generous.