The hottest game of September just got hotter!
The Magnolia Bowl is the undisputed 'can't-miss' game of September, with a historic rivalry that had enough bad blood to flood the SEC for the next 5 years.
Lane Kiffin will have to walk back on the same roads that he was reportedly run off from on the day he earned his status as the ultimate villain in Oxford. It will be a white-knuckle ride for Kiffin who to win against the Rebels in the same place he called his home just months ago.
It's about to get concerning for Lane Kiffin
The worst news he could have gotten is Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss returning for another season.
It was a meltdown-level news for the teams slated against Ole Miss in 2026, but for Kiffin, it was his worst nightmare; facing a QB he recruited and trained for a year, and trying not to lose against him.
USA Today's Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams unequivocally agree on the pressure being much higher for Kiffin than for the Rebels' Pete Golding with Chambliss's return.
"Kiffin and his Tigers face more pressure. Ole Miss is fresh off a playoff semifinal run, buoying the popularity rating of Pete Golding in Mississippi. The Rebels are playing with house money, while LSU has not reached the playoff since its 2019 national championship team. Kiffin previously handled the pressure of returning to Neyland Stadium, beating Tennessee as Ole Miss' coach in front of a hostile crowd in 2021," they wrote.
"Kiffin got hit with a golf ball amid the bedlam that night, but his team won the game. The 2026 Rebels will be better than the ’21 Vols were, though."
Will they be, though? They have never had a villain as hated as Kiffin, expect at least a few wild events if not the Mustard Bottle standard set in Knoxville.