Miami of the
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) faced Ole Miss from the
Southeastern Conference (SEC). Miami previously appeared in, and lost, four prior Fiesta Bowls—the
1985,
1987,
1994, and
2003 editions. This was the first Fiesta Bowl for Ole Miss. This was the fourth meeting between the two teams and their first game in nearly 75 years; in their three prior meetings, Ole Miss won twice (in 1936 and 1940) and Miami won once (in 1951).
Miami Hurricanes Miami opened their season with five consecutive wins, including three over ranked opponents:
Notre Dame,
South Florida, and
Florida State. They suffered two losses in their next three games, to
Louisville and
SMU, then won their final four regular-season games. The Hurricanes were seeded 10th in the CFP, and defeated
Texas A&M in
College Station, Texas, in a first-round contest. Miami entered the
Cotton Bowl quarterfinal with an overall record of 11–2, where they defeated
Ohio State, 24–14, to advance to the Fiesta Bowl.
Ole Miss Rebels Ole Miss began the season as the No. 21 ranked team in the
AP Poll. The Rebels began the season with a 63–7 rout of
Georgia State before earning their first SEC victory of the season on the road against
Kentucky. After starting quarterback
Austin Simmons was injured against Kentucky,
Ferris State transfer
Trinidad Chambliss was named the Rebels' starter moving forward. After outlasting
Arkansas and soundly handling
Tulane, Ole Miss faced undefeated
LSU in the
Magnolia Bowl. The Rebels prevailed 24–19 over the Tigers and vaulted to No. 4 in the AP Poll. Following a bye week, Ole Miss defeated
Washington State before heading to
Athens to face
Georgia, where the Rebels were outlasted 43–35. Following their first defeat of the season, Ole Miss rebounded with a 34–26 road victory at
Oklahoma. The Rebels then returned home for a three-game homestand that included victories over
South Carolina,
The Citadel, and
Florida. Following their second bye week, Ole Miss faced off against rival
Mississippi State in the
Egg Bowl, with the Rebels winning 38–19. Two days following the Rebels' Egg Bowl victory, head coach
Lane Kiffin announced his departure from the program to become the next head coach at
LSU. After Kiffin's departure, the team announced that defensive coordinator
Pete Golding would take over as the head coach for the College Football Playoffs. As the No. 6 seed in the playoffs, the Rebels rematched with Tulane, defeating the Green Wave, 41–10, to move on to the quarterfinals. In the
Sugar Bowl, Ole Miss defeated
Georgia, 39–34, to advance to this semifinal. ==Game summary==