Lane Kiffin’s record against ranked teams is back in the spotlight after LSU’s 32-24 loss at No. 8 Ole Miss on Saturday dropped him to 13-26 against Top 25 opponents.
The defeat came in Kiffin’s first trip back to his former school, and it also pushed him below Illinois coach Bret Bielema, who is 23-45 against ranked teams, while tying him with former Arkansas and Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt at 20-40. College football insider Brennon Chapman posted the updated mark on X after the game.
Kiffin’s struggles in these matchups have been part of the story for a long time. He went 1-3 against ranked opponents in his lone season at Tennessee in 2009, then followed that with a 2-7 mark at USC. His run at Florida Atlantic included an 0-5 record against ranked teams, leaving him at 3-15 before he ever reached Oxford.
That changed at Ole Miss. Over six seasons with the Rebels, Kiffin went 10-10 against ranked opponents. Saturday was his first game against a ranked team as LSU’s coach.
The game itself followed a familiar SEC script. Ole Miss built a 24-7 halftime lead, LSU punched back with 14 straight points in the third quarter, and the Tigers tied it at 24 on a field goal with 11:23 remaining.
Then Trinidad Chambliss took over.
The Ole Miss quarterback, a Division II transfer Kiffin brought to Oxford last year, led a 13-play, 75-yard march and capped it with a 14-yard touchdown run with less than seven minutes to play. A two-point conversion stretched the Rebels’ lead to 32-24.
LSU still had a shot to force a tie, but Jaylon Braxton intercepted Sam Leavitt’s fourth-down pass in the end zone in the closing seconds.
Chambliss finished with 363 passing yards and three total touchdowns, and Kiffin had a blunt read afterward: "Credit to them. Players made plays," Kiffin said after the game. "That's what my biggest fear was all week, every minute, when the game is at the end and Trinidad has the ball in his hand."
The loss also dropped Kiffin to 1-7 when his top-10 team faces a ranked opponent. His only win in that situation came last season, when No.
8 Ole Miss beat No. 13 Oklahoma 34-26.
He is now 1-9 in true road games against Associated Press top-10 teams in a coaching database that goes back to 1990, with bowl games and neutral-site matchups excluded.
Still, the larger picture shows how rare success against ranked teams really is. Only 10 Power Four coaches entered the 2026 season with a career record of .500 or better against Top 25 opponents. Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was 25-35 in those games, and Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was 31-60.
Kiffin’s 10-10 record at Ole Miss matched a standard most Power Four coaches have never reached over an entire career. And he did it at a program that had only two 10-win seasons from 1972 until he arrived in 2020.
The former Rebels coach went 55-19 in Oxford with four 10-win seasons, and his 50 wins from 2021 on trailed only Georgia and Alabama in the SEC. He left Ole Miss at 11-1 in the regular season and headed for the program’s first College Football Playoff.
Texas A&M visits LSU (2-1, 0-1 SEC) on Saturday, Sept. 26, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Alabama comes to Baton Rouge on Nov. 7 and Texas follows on Nov. 14, and then LSU travels to Tennessee on Nov. 21.
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LSUs Quarterback Situation Just Got Dragged Into A New Controversy
Sam Leavitts performance in LSUs loss to Ole Miss was already going to be part of the postgame conversation, but the attention around the Tigers quarterback has since shifted away from the field. A social media account believed to be linked to his father, Jared Leavitt, posted controversial comments about Muslims, quickly drawing concern from LSU fans and media and adding an uncomfortable layer to an already scrutinized situation.
So far, there has been no official response or apology from the account or from LSU, leaving the issue hanging as Leavitt prepares for the next stretch of games. For a quarterback trying to settle things down on the field, the off-field noise is the last thing LSU needs, especially with the program now facing questions that have little to do with wins and losses. [Read more 🡒]
Pat McAfee Sparks Ole Miss Sideline Buzz With Unexpected Game-Day Appearance
Pat McAfee showed up on the sideline for Ole Miss-LSU on Sept. 19, and his presence quickly became one of the more talked-about details around the game. He was seen standing next to Mary Kate Cornett, the Ole Miss student who had previously been drawn into a false rumor McAfee discussed on his show, a saga that had already spilled well beyond the football field.
Cornett had once considered legal action against McAfee before the matter was resolved outside of court, which made their shared appearance in Oxford all the more notable. Neither has publicly addressed what it meant, and for now the image of the two together is left to linger without an explanation from either side. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Took A Rivalry Shot LSU Fans Wont Forget
Ole Miss left its mark on the rivalry with LSU in a 32-24 win that came with a little extra theater after the final whistle. The Rebels not only handled business on the field, but also leaned into the moment by playing "Callin Baton Rouge" as LSU players walked off, a nod that was sure to land with plenty of bite for a SEC crowd that knows exactly what that song means.
Trinidad Chambliss added to the night with a strong performance against his former coach, Lane Kiffin, giving Ole Miss another layer of satisfaction in a game that already carried plenty of edge. Between the postgame gesture from fans and players and the way the Rebels closed it out, this was the kind of win that sticks around long after the score is forgotten. [Read more 🡒]