“We don’t have anything in common with them”: Lane Kiffin blasts SEC after Ole Miss handed "disappointing" opponent in scheduling shakeup

Ole Miss is experiencing what many consider the most successful stretch in its 132-year history under Lane Kiffin. In this 2025 season as well, the Rebels are 4-0 so far, with their 45-10 win over Tulane last weekend.

While the Rebels are witnessing another successful season, Kiffin expressed frustration over the SEC’s announcement of the school's three permanent opponents, mainly due to one school being included.

“Yeah, Oklahoma is really disappointing,” Kiffin said on Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “We don’t have anything in common with them or our fans, so that doesn’t make any sense at all.

“And so that’s unfortunate with so many great teams that we’ve played for a long time here, especially from our SEC West years. So that’s unfortunate.”

The new opponent structure comes ahead of the SEC’s expansion to a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2026.

Mississippi State and LSU were clear choices, but Kiffin questioned the selection of Oklahoma as the third opponent, as he thinks other programs would have been a better fit.

“It is what it is,” Kiffin said. “It’s great to obviously the Egg Bowl is staying, so they only had two choices. So the LSU makes sense, and that’s great. The other one makes no sense.”

Many have suggested that Arkansas or Vanderbilt would have been a more logical third opponent than Oklahoma.

Lane Kiffin prepares for Ole Miss challenge against LSU’s mighty defense

Ole Miss is gearing up for a huge SEC clash this weekend as the Rebels host No. 4 LSU, and Lane Kiffin is keeping note on the Rebels’ defense.

“Second year in a system defensively helps a lot of times,” Kiffin said on Monday (via On3). “They’ve improved their personnel also. You’ve got three or four starting defensive linemen who are portal guys. Three of the four in the secondary are portal guys.

“They’ve done a great job with that. They’re heavily financially invested into the portal and made that decision. That’s no secret. Coach [Brian] Kelly’s talked about that, how much money they’ve spent, and it shows.”

LSU is unbeaten this season with a 4-0 record.