Lane Kiffin’s long-anticipated return to Ole Miss is officially on the calendar. The SEC announced Thursday that LSU will visit Oxford on Sept. 19, 2026, marking Kiffin’s first game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium since he left the Rebels for Baton Rouge.
The Week 3 showdown immediately becomes one of the most anticipated matchups of the 2026 college football season. Kiffin and the Tigers go up against the program he rebuilt and then stunned with his departure.
During his six-year run, Kiffin guided Ole Miss to unprecedented heights, including multiple 10-win seasons and the program’s first College Football Playoff berth. But his exit delivered just days after an 11-win regular season still stings in Oxford. He was met with hostility 0and middle fingers as he boarded a plane bound for LSU.
Kiffin’s return is expected to draw one of the most insane atmospheres in stadium history. The Rebels will be led by Pete Golding and will welcome their former coach as a rival for the first time. With tensions amplified by the way he left the program and by LSU’s aggressive pursuit of him after firing Brian Kelly, Kiffin has to deliver right away.
Both teams are projected to contend in the newly expanded nine-game SEC slate. The matchup carries major early-season implications and no shortage of emotion.
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