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2 hours ago
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After the Ole Miss Rebels took a 34-26 win over the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman, making a clear statement that Lane Kiffin isn’t giving up on his team amidst the continual rumors of a potential jump to the Florida Gators.
USA Today’s Blake Toppmeyer doesn’t believe Kiffin is even a shoo-in to go to Gainesville, believing there’s a good chance the Rebs enter the College Football Playoff, or even the SEC Championship Game, as an 11-1 team and end up keeping the 50-year-old in Oxford.
Ole Miss plays the South Carolina Gamecocks, Florida, The Citadel Bulldogs, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs in November. The Rebels have their bye week right before the Egg Bowl.
“Peek at Ole Miss’ November schedule, though. It’s cake. This triumph at Oklahoma charts a course for the Rebels to snag either a playoff bye or at least a first-round home game,” Toppmeyer wrote.
“All of which points to Ole Miss’ season continuing into January. That would erect a massive hurdle toward Florida hiring Kiffin, because the Gators probably would want their new coach installed by the time the transfer portal opens on Jan. 2.”
Kiffin staying at Ole Miss looks more and more realistic as the wins pile up. Even their one loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, a revenge game from a 28-10 UGA loss to the Rebels last year, was a one-score game (43-35).
Still, that narrative is a temporary one if any of the aforementioned dismissed programs pick up a win.
Especially Florida, which upset Ole Miss last year and is playing for an interim head coach after firing Billy Napier, potentially warming up the seat for Kiffin. It'd be a damning look to lose to UF at Vaught Hemingway.
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