With Ole Miss on the brink of its first College Football Playoff appearance, ESPN’s Dan Wetzel says Lane Kiffin now faces one of the most precarious “must-win” games of any coach in recent college football history.
The No. 6 Rebels enter Friday’s Egg Bowl at Mississippi State with a 10-1 record, the program’s best season in more than six decades. Yet all of it, he argues, hangs in the balance because of the storm of speculation Kiffin has allowed to swirl around his future.
Kiffin has not announced whether he’ll remain at Ole Miss or leave for LSU or Florida, both of which have churned heavily in the rumor mill. Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter said a decision is “expected” the day after the Egg Bowl, but even that phrasing has added fuel to a saga Kiffin himself has stoked with cryptic social-media posts and family visits to other campuses.
The drama has transformed the rivalry game in Starkville into a defining moment.
"It's a game Kiffin better win," Wetzel wrote.
"Forget the rest of this chaotic story. The long, slow drag-out of an announcement. The fact that Kiffin had family members reportedly tour other schools and towns... While still working in Oxford. The daily cryptic book excerpts Kiffin sends out on social media, leaving fans to try to decipher their meanings."
Ole Miss is positioned not only to reach the playoff but potentially host a home semifinal that would be one of the biggest in Mississippi sports history. Kiffin has never coached a team with this level of national opportunity.
But one upset loss could send it all crashing down. A defeat would drop the Rebels into a crowded 10-2 at-large pool and risk playoff exclusion. If Kiffin leaves afterward, the CFP committee could penalize Ole Miss, similar to the way Florida State was downgraded after losing its quarterback in 2023.
Ole Miss is an 8.5-point favorite, but the Egg Bowl’s history is filled with controversy and stunning swings. Kiffin created the circus and now must win to keep the season, and his legacy, from unraveling.
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