Brian Kelly doesn’t like LSU’s chances Saturday night in Oxford.
The former Tigers coach, now working as a CBS analyst, picked No. 9 Ole Miss to handle No.
7 LSU when the teams meet Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
ESPN’s “College GameDay” will also be on site for a matchup that already carries plenty of weight, with Lane Kiffin making his return to Oxford after leaving the Rebels for LSU before last season’s College Football Playoff.
Kelly said Sept. 15 that the setting should matter, and matter a lot.
"The home team has won this matchup in the last four years," Kelly said. "So, 2-2 over the last four years and it has been the home team winning close games - overtime, one-score games.
So, we already know what the outcome is. This is going to be a close game.
"So, I'm going to lean with the home team here. When you go on the road in the SEC, the home crowd makes a difference."
That call comes from a coach who knows this LSU-Ole Miss series well. Kelly was fired by the Tigers in the middle of the 2025 season after a 49-20 road loss to Texas A&M, LSU’s third defeat in four games after opening the year ranked in the top 10. He went 3-0 in bowl games during his LSU tenure and guided the program to the SEC championship game in his first season in 2022, but he never got the Tigers into the College Football Playoff.
LSU still has several players who were on Kelly’s roster a year ago, including tight end Trey'Dez Green, linebacker Whit Weeks and cornerback DJ Pickett. Those Tigers were part of the 24-19 loss at Ole Miss last season. Under Kelly, LSU beat the Rebels in 2022 and 2024, while Ole Miss took the 2023 and 2025 meetings.
Kelly said the road trip to Oxford is not the kind of assignment any SEC team can treat lightly.
"LSU-Ole Miss is a rivalry game," he said. "It's a border war.
That now, with the backdrop of everything else, has created obviously what we have. This is going to be a heck of a football game.
Playing in the SEC, when you go on the road, regardless of what all the other circumstances are, you better be ready to play because this is going to be one fun football game to watch."
In Other News...
LSU Ole Miss Rivalry Just Turned Personal For Lane Kiffin
With the Ole Miss-LSU matchup approaching, the buildup has already spilled far beyond the usual trash talk. Landry Kiffin, the daughter of LSU head coach Lane Kiffin and a student at Ole Miss, took to social media to address signs and comments directed at her that crossed a line, adding a deeply personal layer to a rivalry game that already carries plenty of heat.
She also pushed back forcefully against sexual allegations made about her involving an Ole Miss player, saying she has never met the player and criticizing fellow students for the way they handled the moment. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, but the attention around it now includes a reminder that rivalry weekend can turn ugly well before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Fans Face A Real Game Day Risk This LSU Weekend
Ole Miss is getting ready for one of the marquee dates on the home schedule, and the timing could not be less forgiving. With LSU coming to Oxford and a huge crowd expected to pour in, the weekend is shaping up to bring mid-to-upper 90s heat along with the usual traffic, tailgating and long hours outdoors that come with a big SEC game.
Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi and other local hospitals are stepping up emergency staffing in anticipation of heat-related illnesses, a reminder that this kind of atmosphere can turn dangerous fast. Medical professionals are urging fans to hydrate well before kickoff and watch closely for signs of heat exhaustion, especially if alcohol is part of the day, because the combination can make a hot football weekend even riskier. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Fans Heading To Oxford Just Got A Rivalry Warning
Saturday nights matchup between Ole Miss and LSU already had the feel of a high-stakes SEC event, and now the Rebels are adding an extra layer of crowd control before kickoff. Ole Miss Athletics announced that anyone wearing LSU gear or colors will not be allowed in the student section, a move aimed at keeping that part of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium reserved and reducing the chance of trouble in a game that always carries a little more edge than most.
The warning comes after previous tensions between the schools spilled into conflict, including an arrest during a recent baseball series. With kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC, the focus in Oxford is supposed to be on the football, but the student section policy is a reminder that the rivalry can still create issues well before the first snap. [Read more 🡒]