Ole Miss Rebels fans need to root for shocking SEC teams this week if they want to keep Lane Kiffin and reach all 2025 goals

Lane Kiffin could choose to stay with Ole Miss if rivalry week goes exactly how Rebels fans need it to amid stacked SEC slate

Travis May — College Football Managing Editor
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The Lane Kiffin head coaching drama saga is almost over and the Ole Miss Rebels are still in the midst of their greatest season ever. Just one week of regular season action remains, but Ole Miss still has a shot at making the SEC Championship Game, retaining their best coach of all time, and locking in a College Football Playoff game if things go just right.

Which teams should Ole Miss fans surprisingly be rooting for this weekend if they want to make it to the conference championship, possibly convince Lane Kiffin to stay, and set themselves up for the ideal playoff scenario? Let’s dive in.

Auburn Tigers vs Alabama Crimson Tide

Ole Miss fans likely already hate Alabama enough, so rooting for the Auburn Tigers this week shouldn’t be a problem, but this outcome could prove extremely important for the Rebels. Why? For starters, avoiding a potential matchup against a Crimson Tide team with a first round quarterback and elite defense in round one of the playoff is a major win, and this would knock Alabama out. And two, this will be the final and most important domino that needs to fall on Saturday night to send Ole Miss to the SEC Championship Game, thanks to conference tie-breakers and all standings scenarios. If the Rebels are not only making the playoff, but also competing to win the SEC, how in the world would Lane Kiffin just jump ship, abandoning what he’s built right now? That’s next level villain stuff right there, if he does.

Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies

The first domino that has to fall this week if Ole Miss wants to make it to the SEC Championship Game is Texas A&M. How? Ole Miss holds the critical “conference opponent win percentage” tie-breaker over A&M. If the Texas Longhorns can topple the Aggies and take care of Mississippi State themselves on Friday they’ll be just one step away from making it to the conference championship. Again, that would make it tougher for Kiffin to leave, and it could set up an exciting rematch against the Georgia Bulldogs in the championship game — a team that Ole Miss should have beaten the first time in Athens after scoring five touchdowns in a row to start that game.

Oklahoma Sooners vs. LSU Tigers

This one should be obvious. Any opportunity to make the LSU Tigers — Kiffin’s alleged most significant interest outside of Ole Miss — look terrible is a win for the Rebels. The Florida Gators are still technically in it here for Kiffin, but LSU is the heavy favorite between those two. The Oklahoma Sooners boast one of the best (if not the best) defenses in the nation and have held every opponent this season (except for Ole Miss) to 27 or fewer points. The Sooners should have no problem shutting down LSU’s struggling squad here, but Ole Miss fans need to hope this is absolutely ugly for the Tigers. If reports are true, and Kiffin has been going back and forth on his decision to leave this week, even the slightest nudge reminding him that LSU’s program has been trending in the wrong direction for over half a decade could help immensely. Also, this further boosts Ole Miss’ resume and likely locks in a home playoff game for the Rebels.

We’ll be back with more Ole Miss Rebels coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

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