Lane Kiffin has good optinos in Florida and LSU, but if he stays at Ole Miss, he can always leave later.
Does Lane Kiffin face a deadline to make his decision? That depends on who you ask.
As CFP bubble crowds, how many teams can SEC qualify? Shoot for six, but face reality of five.
In one hand, Kiffin holds a College Football Playoff contender at Mississippi. With one more win, the Rebels are positioned to host a first-round home game.
In another hand, there’s Florida, and still another LSU.
Ole Miss, according to multiple reports, has given Kiffin a deadline of next week to make up his mind on which hand he’s playing. Kiffin said in an appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ that Ole Miss has not given him an ultimatum.
‘There has been no ultimatum,’ Kiffin said. ‘That’s absolutely not true.’
Even if the deadline is real, it’s unclear what moves Ole Miss could take if Kiffin doesn’t meet the timeline.
Drama, drama, drama.
On this edition of ‘SEC Football Unfiltered,’ a podcast from the USA TODAY Network, hosts Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams discuss the latest developments on the daily soap opera surrounding Kiffin.
They also weigh in on the SEC’s potential maximum number of playoff qualifiers, with seven teams from the conference still in contention.
What’s Lane Kiffin’s next move? Stay, or off to Florida or LSU?
Adams: Why mess with happiness? Why mess with success? If Kiffin wants to win a national championship, he can do that right where he’s at. Last year’s team was talented enough to be in the playoff and play into January, but it flopped in two games it had no business losing. This year’s team has one of the nation’s most exciting offenses.
Maybe, it’s still a little harder to build teams of this caliber at Ole Miss than it would be at places like LSU, but Kiffin has mastered a craft that works for the Rebels. The last time Kiffin left a job where he could have won a national title, he derailed his career. With his career back on track, maybe stay put this time.
Toppmeyer: We’re acting as if Kiffin has only three options: Ole Miss, Florida or LSU. Here’s a fourth: Stay at Ole Miss, coach the team in the playoff, and then if the program backslides next year, leave for whatever the best job is on the market, when accepting a new job doesn’t mean leaving a playoff team.
Because, more good jobs will open in 2026 and ’27.
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This year, it’s Florida and LSU. Next year, who knows, maybe Texas and Alabama come open again. Maybe Michigan opens. I don’t know what’ll open next season. I only know that LSU and Florida won’t be the last two good jobs ever available, and Kiffin’s stock would remain hot after a playoff run this season.
Oh, and here’s a fifth option: Wait for the NFL to come calling. Kiffin holds three good hands, and if he retains his cards with Ole Miss, I’d bet more good cards would be on the way in 2026.
How many teams can SEC qualify for the CFP?
Commissioner Greg Sankey once mused about the SEC staging its own College Football Playoff. He didn’t follow through, but his conference has at least an outside shot of claiming half the spots in a 12-team playoff.
Not bad, eh? The bubble’s getting awfully crowded, so what’s the most realistic outcome for the SEC?
Realistic: Five playoff teams, with Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss, Alabama and Oklahoma being the best bets. Vanderbilt and Texas remain in the mix but are longer shots to qualify.
Shoot for the moon: Six teams. If the aforementioned top five plus Vanderbilt all finish with 10-plus wins, could the committee squeeze them all in? Probably not, but maybe if some chaos ensues elsewhere.
Not happening: Seven teams. There won’t be enough room.
Week 13 picks against the spread!
Toppmeyer’s five-pack of picks (picks in bold):
∎ Missouri at Oklahoma (-8.5)
∎ Charlotte at Georgia (-44.5)
∎ Arkansas at Texas (-10.5)
∎ Coastal Carolina at South Carolina (-23.5)
∎ Miami (-17.5) at Virginia Tech
Season record: 27-33 (2-3 last week)
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Adams’ five-pack of picks (picks in bold):
∎ Arkansas at Texas (-10.5)
∎ Tennessee (-3.5) at Florida
∎ Western Kentucky at LSU (-22.5)
∎ Kentucky at Vanderbilt (-9.5)
∎ Akron at Bowling Green (-3.5)
Season record: 30-30 (1-4 last week)
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Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. John Adams is the senior sports columnist for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Subscribe to the SEC Football Unfiltered podcast, and check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
