Lane Kiffin braces for the biggest game of his career: On the Line

Lane Kiffin, welcome to the biggest game of your career. I don't know what Ole Miss spent to gather this roster, but I can tell you it's a lot. It's unlikely this collection of talent, with a quarterback as talented and experienced as he has now, ever wears Rebels colors again. Not impossible, but unlikely.

And without a win on Saturday, Kiffin will have a 7-3 record to show for it.

I can hear my esteemed colleague John Brice in my ear telling me it's Ole Miss, not Alabama or LSU, and should be judged as such. Kiffin has succeeded above the Rebels' historic norms and gotten as much or more than should be expected out of each Ole Miss team he's coached thus far in Oxford. All true.

But, thanks to that Kentucky loss in September, a defeat on Saturday will mean that is no longer the case in 2024.

Beat Georgia (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC), or for the first time Lane would have underachieved at Ole Miss.

Beat Georgia, or for the first time the whole would be less than the sum of the parts under Lane.

It's a heck of a spot to be in, given that Georgia hasn't loss to anyone other than Alabama since 2020.

I'm picking Georgia, but Ole Miss has a better quarterback, a better scheme, and a better play-caller, which gives the Rebels a chance. 

An elimination game in Baton Rouge. Certain rivalry games are better in specific locations. The fall colors pop perfectly when Ohio State and Michigan play in Ann Arbor. The Iron Bowl is more fun at Jordan-Hare. Red River looks better when Texas is the home team. Likewise, Alabama-LSU feels more "right" at Baton Rouge, and both sides agree.

Writing for ESPN.com in 2007, former Alabama coach Bill Curry recalled this story:

In 1989, we took our Alabama team to Baton Rouge to play for the SEC title. When the LSU fans began their chants of "Tiger meat! Tiger meat!" there was such a huge contingent of Alabama fans that they literally drowned out the Tiger chants with "Roll Tide Roll!" It was amazing. The game had been won before the pads were donned. Our players were chanting, "The Tide don't lose in Baton Rouge!" It had been sparked by the fans, many of whom did not have tickets to the game.

Alabama won that game 32-16, along with most Tide-Tigers games in Baton Rouge. The Crimson Tide are 23-6-1 at Tiger Stadium since this game became an annual affair in the mid-1960s. 

Brian Kelly won his only home game with Alabama to date in a 32-31 overtime classic, and he'll need a similar performance on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) because the loser of this game is out of the Playoff hunt. 

LSU would be 6-3 overall and 3-2 in SEC play, with head-to-head losses to Texas A&M and Alabama.

Alabama would be 6-3 overall and firmly stuck in the middle of the SEC standings, with no realistic back-door possibility to reach Atlanta.

There's a greater conversation to be had about lowering the bar to allow these LSU and Alabama teams, which are well below the versions we saw in the 2010s, to remain in the national championship hunt with two losses apiece. But, man, Saturday night should be fun.

Additional Games:

-- Iowa at UCLA (9 p.m. ET Friday, Fox): UCLA's over/under win total was 4.5, and the Bruins now sit at 3-5. A win here means DeShaun Foster's bunch would have to win two of their last three against Washington, USC and Fresno State to reach a bowl game.

-- Purdue at No. 2 Ohio State (noon ET, Fox): Big Noon Kickoff has been a smashing success for Fox but, man, they sure do seem to default to lots of Ohio State blowouts each season. Big Noon aired Ohio State as a 40-point favorite against Marshall earlier this year (the Buckeyes won 49-14), and now the scarlet and gray are back in the spotlight as 38-point favorites over Purdue. The Boilermakers have beaten the Buckeyes a surprising five times this century, but haven't won at the Horseshoe since 1988... which itself was the first time since 1967. 

-- West Virginia at Cincinnati (noon ET, FS1): At 3-2, both teams are on the fringe of Big 12 title contention right now. The winner remains on the all-important TV standings graphic, and the loser exits.

-- Navy at South Florida (noon ET, ESPN2): After averaging 44.8 points a game in their first six outings, the Middies have scored 24 -- combined -- against Notre Dame (understandable) and Rice (???). Next week brings an AAC semifinal game to Annapolis against Tulane, so long as Navy gets its offense straightened out in Tampa.

-- Michigan at No. 8 Indiana (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS): Forget about these teams' respective standings right now. Indiana has beaten Michigan twice since 1968, and one of those was in 2020, which barely happened. 

-- No. 17 Iowa State at Kansas (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1): All the focus on Florida State, Oklahoma State, Michigan and Oklahoma has obscured the bellyflop they've done at Kansas, where the preseason AP No. 22 team must now win out -- including three straight against ranked teams -- to avoid missing a bowl game.

-- No. 23 Clemson at Virginia Tech (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN): The winners of 11 ACC championships from 2007-22, the Tigers and Hokies are now fighting to hang on in an ACC race paced by Miami and SMU. Clemson has won six straight in this series.

-- No. 25 Army at North Texas (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2): Would you believe North Texas has a winning record all-time against ranked teams at home? Granted, the Mean Green are 2-1, but still. Army brings the irresistible force of its top-ranked rushing offense to face the movable object in UNT's 104th-ranked rushing defense. The Mean Green have yielded nine rushing touchdowns in their last two games, as both Memphis and Tulane topped 6.3 a carry.

-- Duke at NC State (3:30 p.m. ET, ACC Network): Despite being in the same state and the same conference, the Blue Devils and Wolf Pack have played just five times since 2008. Last week Duke threw for more than 300 yards for the first time since 2022, only to allow 400 and five scores to Miami's Cam Ward. 

-- South Carolina at Vanderbilt (4:15 p.m. ET, SEC Network): Both teams have a lot to be proud of this season, but the loser will have four losses by dinnertime. South Carolina hasn't won three straight games consisting only of SEC opponents since 2017, while Vandy hasn't won four SEC games since 2012.

-- Arkansas State at Louisiana (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+): It's not quite the Sun Belt West championship game with South Alabama and ULM still hanging around, but 4-0 Louisiana or 3-1 A-State will be in pole position entering the final stretch.

-- Maryland at No. 1 Oregon (7 p.m. ET, BTN): This is somehow a Big Ten game.

-- Florida State at No. 10 Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC): Florida State, who hadn't lost eight games in a season since 1975, seeks to avoid its first 9-loss season since going 1-10 the year prior. 

-- No. 9 BYU at Utah (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN): Having snapped a 9-game losing streak in 2021, BYU looks to win back-to-back Holy Wars for the first time since 2006-07; 2006 also happens to be BYU's last win in Salt Lake City. BYU is 5-0 in Big 12 play and Utah 1-4, but both teams are still in the title hunt according to the conference.