Let all the Bulldog faithful rally behind the men who now wear the red and black with two words, two simple words which express the sentiments of the entire Bulldog Nation: Auburn Sucks.
Man, there’s preparing for the next big game, then there’s preparing for what sounds like an active divorce proceeding.
But what about Weis and those five other assistants who’ve signed contracts to coach at LSU next season?
“Their focus is on Georgia-Ole Miss football,” Chambliss said. “Their obligations for next year are next year.”
Except, of course, when the six of them hold separate recruiting meetings at night, some which unfold at Weis’ own home and include, perhaps, conversations about pursuing current Ole Miss players to come to Baton Rouge.
“It’s very strange,” Weis acknowledged. “You spend the whole day grinding together with the game plan, and at night, you’ve got to go to opposite sides [of the building]. At nighttime, we go take care of recruiting meetings on our own. It’s a crazy deal.”
For some, this is unnerving. The trust factor is a real thing.
In fact, new Ole Miss assistants hired by coach Pete Golding, or those staying on staff next year, will intentionally sit in during individual meetings with players led by some of the six LSU-bound assistants “just to make sure there’s no tampering,” says one school official.
“We got to get the FBI in here to bug the phones,” says one Ole Miss administrative staff member with a laugh.
He’s only half-joking.
If you’ve got the time, this is worth a read.
In an unprecedented situation, six LSU assistants are coaching Ole Miss in its biggest game ever.
Tampering is afoot, officials say. Trust is wavering.
And things could get weirder: Lane Kiffin may attend the Sugar Bowl with Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.https://t.co/VVcuGvQX1s
Saturday afternoon Ole Miss as the 6 seed takes on the AAC champs and 11 seed Tulane in Oxford. Duke’s win in the ACC championship moved the Green Wave up one spot and likely resulted in Notre Dame’s ouster from the field. Ole Miss and Notre Dame likely would have been a much more attractive game for TV. Instead, we get a rematch of a previous mismatch for a spot in New Orleans to face the Dawgs.
Series record: Ole Miss leads the series 44-28 and holds a 3 game winning streak in the series.
Last meeting: In September, Ole Miss ran out to a 23-3 lead and never looked back cruising to a win at Vaught-Hemingway. Ole Miss rolled up almost 550 yards of total offense as Trinidad Chambliss had 419 yards of total offense and 2 TDs. The Ole Miss defense yielded almost 180 yards of rushing at a 4.6 yards per attempt clip.
Gambling degenerate facts: Caesar’s has Ole Miss as a 17.5 point favorite with a money line of -950 and a point total of 51.5.
How should a refugee watch this game: The easy answer here is how do the Rebel Black Bears look without Joey Freshwater on the sideline. His play calling and feel for the game are a big reason for the Rebels’ explosive offense and their QB play throughout the season. Can Charlie Weis, Jr. guide Chambliss and the offense to make it difficult for Tulane to keep up with them? How will Pete Golding respond to being the man on the sideline?
I’m just as interested in seeing what Jon Sumrall is all about as he moves to Hogtown to be the chief Handbag. I don’t know if this game will be a good barometer for his prospects in North Florida.
Interesting statistic: 4.33 (Ole Miss’s average yards yielded per rush)
Ole Miss has been subpar defending the running game. Mississippi State rang up 262 yards on the ground in the Egg Bowl. As you all know, the Dawgs chewed up yards on the ground in the regular season meeting with them. Tulane’s best shot is to be able to move the chains with the running game, play keep away, and shorten the game.
Early outlook: Similar to other G5 playoff game, the visiting team does not have a lot of paths to stealing a win. Tulane has a better shot than JMU because of the coaching turnover at Ole Miss and the unknown of whether Golding is ready to be the guy.
I just don’t see the Tulane defense getting the number of stops necessary to get the win, and I’m not sure they can do it enough to cover the spread.
Ole Miss takes care of business and will be in for a rude awakening on Sunday morning when they are facing a Georgia team that has become a force.
Well holy hell. If DeBoer bolts right away and isn’t allowed to coach in the CFP, and Kiffin severs ties on the Bayou, the question is this – would Kiffin be allowed to coach in his first CFP game as a head coach – at Alabama? Joey Freshwater, I must say…damn good stuff, sir.
Today’s Thought Provoker is this: if Kalen bolts, who’s Alabama’s man? Do we worry if Kirby wants to take the reigns, or are we confident that he likes what he’s built in Athens?
I’d put money on Dan Lanning or them driving a dump truck up to Cignetti’s house.
One thing I heard is that Georgia and Texas Tech are given the benefit of being able to decisively prepare for their first game in the CFP. If you’re struggling with that as I did, the conventional logic is that Georgia “knows” Ole Miss will win, as the Red Raiders “know” they’ll be facing Oregon. The top of the bracket has to wonder who will win the games that play in, which all feature narrower point spread predictions.
Anyway, let’s assume that’s true…Georgia gets a rematch versus Ole Miss to kick off their CFP run. Here’s a fun stat for you:
Aside from the SECCG against Texas, looks like the second verse of the same song yields a significant gap in final score, too…but you know, Alabama and Auburn can always claim “because (insert player name here) was hurt”.
I say all that to say, I feel confident Kirby’s on the mother.
Reader suggestion for this came from cyndiandlarry, so I’ll give my best “what if” scenario for CFP chaos. A few parameters to consider:
The Committee said conference championship games would NOT hurt a CFP contender’s chances for being included in the playoffs.
CFP rankings seem to have considered head-to-head results, as my colleague at work seemed to point out that CFP rankings releases have put the winner of head-to-heads above the loser in prior rankings, even if they are side-by-side.
The CFP Committee seems to make things up as they go.
That said, let’s get into the hypotheticals:
Hypothetical #1 – All the favorites win.
Okay, this means that Ohio State (-4) wins, Georgia (-2.5) wins, Virginia (-4) wins, and Texas Tech (-12.5) wins. This would also need to include the conference champ from the AAC or the Sunbelt. Currently North Texas is a narrow favorite over Tulane and James Madison is a huge favorite over Troy.
If this is the case, you’re looking at this likely outcome:
Look, ma! No challenges on the schedule! I’m king of the world!
Sure, Indiana could be #2 or #3 since they see this as the latest one-loss team and losing to the glorious Bucknuts, but the top 4 would be this group of teams. Would they consider the strength of record (SOR) and strength of schedule (SOS)? Yeah, they should…doesn’t mean they will. Beauty contest, and all. That’s three conference champs in the top 3, but what about the rest?
#5 – Oregon, #6 – Ole Miss, #7 – Texas A&M, #8 – Oklahoma…then this is where it gets interesting. There’s no doubt the Committee and their B1G lean can’t stand the idea of FIVE SEC teams in the playoffs. Would they drop Alabama out, especially if it’s not a close win?
Hypothetical #1a – Alabama loses big.
If Alabama lays an egg, they drop out, pushing Notre Dame up to #9 or potentially sneaking Miami in at #10 at #9 and keeping Notre Dame at #10. Notre Dame draws viewers, and without Miami, the CFP Committee loses viewers from the Florida market (trust me, they’re probably thinking of this). I don’t see Texas sneaking in, especially since potentially both North Texas and Texas Tech would already be in, so there’s no need for the Texas viewership at that point.
Let’s face it, this is the only record the Committee cares about.
Hypothetical #1b – Alabama loses a tight one.
In this case, Alabama drops to 10 and Notre rises to 9. Sorry Miami, quit doing Cristobal things and this wouldn’t be an argument.
That leaves #11 at Virginia and #12 as North Texas. Even in James Madison slaughters Troy, they’re ranked lower than both Tulane and North Texas, so James Madison is likely out, unless Duke wins…say, that reminds me.
Hypothetical #2 – All the underdogs win
This is where it gets interesting. In this case, I see the top 4 being as follows:
#1 Indiana, #2 Ohio State, #3 Alabama, #4 BYU
Now that’s an ugly look. Alabama makes a giant leap up and is ahead of BYU based on SOR and SOS, and also because Alabama is currently ranked higher than BYU. So what about the rest?
Screw you, points spread!
#5 – Oregon, #6 – Georgia, #7 – Texas Tech, #8 – Ole Miss, #9 – TAMU, #10 – Oklahoma or Notre Dame, #11 – Tulane, #12 – James Madison
#12 is the wild card…James Madison has one loss, and is currently ranked ahead of Duke (who is currently not ranked in the CFP rankings). Would the Committee leapfrog Duke ahead of James Madison just so the ACC would have a representative. No doubt, they’d love to avoid a conference lawsuit from the ACC, but this scenario has Notre Dame dropping out, which would likely be a formidable litigator than the whole ACC combined.
Why James Madison and not Duke? The current structure calls for the five highest-ranked conference champs, not five being four PF and the highest G5. If Duke doesn’t leapfrog James Madison, the ACC is eliminated. The Irish, though, I could see being kept at #10 and pushing out Oklahoma, who also has two losses and are likely playing on borrowed, time, anyway. This would avoid the five-team imbalance of the SEC in the playoff, and give the de facto ACC rep (in every other sport, any way) as Notre Dame to try to keep up appearances.
Hypothetical #3 – Texas Tech Wins, North Texas Wins, Virginia Wins, Georgia loses, B1G is inconsequential.
Georgia, in this case, would finish no worse than sixth. They could finish at 5 (if it’s close), which would push all the contenders down a level. The #11 is Virginia’s and #12 is whichever G5 finishes highest in the final poll. That leaves the coveted #10 spot up for debate, which I covered in Hypothetical #2.
While the Committee is not viewing the change in head coaching at Ole Miss as an issue, it makes one wonder, if Ole Miss gets killed, what furor will arise over the exclusion of Miami, Notre Dame, or even BYU should BYU lose a narrow game against the final #2 team in the polls.
Hypothetical #4 – Miami and Vanderbilt play a secret game in Hawaii this weekend.
Who cares, they’re both likely out, anyway.
I don’t like the post-season, anyway. Worth every penny.
So what’s likely to happen?
Most likely outcomes:
The B1G maintains two teams in the top 4.
The SEC has no fewer than four teams in the CFP, with locks for Georgia, Ole Miss, TAMU, and Oklahoma. Alabama really, really needs to win, or lose a tight one.
Miami, Texas, and Vanderbilt outside looking in.
Notre Dame is praying for all the favorites to win, really needs BYU and Alabama to lose, but the Irish are likely in.
The ACC needs to cancel the officiating live look-ins, and do everything they can to help Virginia win, it’s their likely only hope.
TAMU, Ole Miss, or Oklahoma will fuel the fire that the SEC is overrated and didn’t deserve to be there.
JP’s Predicted Final CFP:
First Round Byes:
1 – Ohio State, 2 – Texas Tech, 3 – Indiana, 4 – Alabama (sorry, I’m not jinxing us by predicting a win)
This feature took last week off because there was really nothing on the field to report, but this weekend got the message boards lit up. We’ll start today’s trip where we normally end it … to check in on the most obnoxious for no apparent reason fan base in sports. How is it going at the North Avenue Trade School after their 3rd moral victory in a row over the Dawgs?
This Booby Dudd like nerd’s response to the game on Friday was on a thread regarding whether they should keep playing Georgia. The copium being taken in west midtown Atlanta in the CFB landscape since the game is some of the most potent I’ve seen.
On the field, the defensive front took the Jacketasses behind the woodshed for 60 minutes. Other than the pass off the goal line after a blatant missed intentional grounding call that should have resulted in a safety, the vaunted Buster Faulkner/Haynes King offense was in a UFC choke hold for much of the game.
Here’s a different sports analogy for you from Brooks Austin:
If the offense had done anything of note, we could have witnessed a beatdown of epic proportions in MBS. Alas, that gives us something to worry about for Saturday as if Bama wasn’t enough.
Let’s move on to Austin to check in on the formerly undefeated Texas AgCult after their faceplant in Austin in the Lone Star Showdown (or whatever they call it).
Speaking of copium, a lot of that seems to have been smoked by this genius from Aggieland. Did this guy watch his team fall behind at home to South Carolina 30-3 a couple of weeks ago? The 12th Man played with fire multiple times during this season and got burned badly by their big brother on Friday night. Marcel Reed made the Archduke look like Peyton and Eli rolled up into one. Someone (cough, cough … Notre Dame … cough, cough) at the bottom of the first round bracket is probably drooling at the thought of going to Kyle Field.
Let’s move on to East Tennessee to check on the fan base that can’t say they run this state for the next year.
Powered by a 24-3 2nd half, Vanderbilt sends the Vol faithful to the exits to the tune of a 21 point whipping in Kneeland. That’s still not likely to be good enough to earn a playoff spot, but Clark Lea should be national coach of the year for doing something never done in the history of the traditional SEC Dore-mat football program.
All of this and they lost the turnover margin -2. Oh, my.
Enjoy your trip to Orlando, Commodores. On the other hand, let’s welcome Bobby Hill to the hottest seat in the SEC entering 2026, and enjoy your trip to Charlotte or Nashville in December.
Let’s end today’s trip in Oxford where a fan base should be looking forward to being a dangerous team in the CFP but, instead, is looking at a program holding on after being stung by a scorpion in the middle of the river (if you don’t get that reference, read my post from yesterday).
The first genius needs to calm down and step away from the ledge. The second genius doesn’t understand this decision likely wasn’t about money.
“No wrath like a fan base scorned.” I have no problem with Kiffin’s decision to leave even at this time. I have a big problem with his desire to do it on his terms and his apparent decision to go scorched earth on his way out as a result of not getting his way. His decision (likely with Jimmy Sexton’s blessing) to attempt to play the victim with his social media post announcing his departure should be insulting to the Rebel faithful who supported his NIL needs to build a transfer-laden roster. If Dooley had left for Auburn in 1980 during the season, I would have been apoplectic as a teenage fan.
I would love to see whether the Cane’s locations in Oxford see a drop in business as a result of all of this or if they try to do anything to buy off the Ole Miss athletic department.
What did you see this weekend? Let us know in the comments.
The Kiffin Kancer seems to have shown up in Oxford. It took a while, but you knew it was going to end badly because that’s what Junior does.
Lane Kiffin is “essentially demanding to finish the season (w/Ole Miss) while simultaneously threatening to poach” Ole Miss’ roster & staff if he can’t, source told @On3sports. “It’s unfortunately gotten even messier than expected as emotions are high” https://t.co/gBcvHKk3Ps
Does anyone believe anything that comes out of his mouth at this point?
He wants the playoff on his coaching resumé. At the same time, he wants a built-in excuse for losing said playoff game. If he decides to take the LSU job, the committee is going to punish Ole Miss in their “rankings” on Tuesday night regardless of the decision. They will end up as the 9 seed on the road to wherever. That’s the Florida State treatment in today’s set-up.
Should the powers that be in Oxford allow him to coach through the playoff?
My opinion is no, but that may be because Pretty Boy Herbstreit and Saban say yes. He’s going to attempt to gut the roster one way or another.
All of this reminds me of the story of the Scorpion and the Frog, and Ole Miss is in the middle of the river with Joey Freshwater on their back.
This weekend saw one team virtually eliminated from the playoff race while a rival that team beat convincingly keeps its playoff hopes alive with a big victory on the road. The message boards were lighting up all over the place. Let’s start out today’s trip in Louisville to check on the temperature of the Greater Anderson Cow College fan base.
Clemson wins a game, and it pisses off a portion of the fan base. I’m guessing Dabo isn’t going anywhere unless he decides to do it. I don’t see Clemson joining the coaching carousel fray voluntarily at this point in this season unless major donors force their hand. Clemson lost the game everywhere except on the scoreboard (the one place that matters).
The Tyler from Spartanburg segment of the fan base clearly believes that championships are their birthright. They forget that Dabo brought them that success (and expectation) and that there used to be a thing called Clemsoning.
I don’t care what Clemson does, but I am here to watch the fallout.
Let‘s move on to College Station to see the smoking crater that is the South Carolina football program following the biggest choke job you’re going to see.
Clemson lost the first game in program history when scoring 45 or more points a couple of weeks ago at home against the University of New Jersey at Durham. South Carolina says, “Hold my beer, Tiggers” by breaking a 286 game SEC winning streak since 2004 when leading by 27+. Ouch.
I’m here for the chaos in the Palmetto State. The only thing South Carolina has to play for is to ruin the remainder of Clemson’s season in Columbia.
Let’s move on to Tuscaloosa to check on the Bammers after their most recent loss to Oklahoma.
Bammers can’t decide if DeBoer is the genius that holds the key to success against Georgia or if he’s a bumbling fool from the West Coast who doesn’t get it. The Sooners get a blocked field goal, a pick 6 and 2 more turnovers while only generating 212 yards of offense themselves. Bama still controls their own destiny to get to Atlanta with a win at Jordan-Hare in the Iron Bowl. F-bum is going to be glorious on Monday with the Bammer whining and the Georgia gloating.
Let’s move on to Oxford as the Rebel fan base wants closure on Kiffin’s decision one way or another.
The Handbags are officially “there’s no place like home for the holidays” after Saturday’s loss to Ole Miss in Oxford (snicker). The majority of Rebel fans want Lane to stay in Oxford, and Lane said he loves Ole Miss after the game.
I still don’t think he wants to leave to take a higher pressure job in an inferior location (Baton Rouge or Hogtown). The media and the airplane watchers are going to be watching what happens over the next week as Ole Miss starts its preparation for the Egg Bowl.
Let’s end today’s trip in the Classic City after the Dawgs flex their muscles against Texas again.
Why can’t we bottle what we show against Texas to use against another opponent (cough, cough … Alabama … cough, cough)? After the Dawgs bowed up to force a field goal on the game’s first possession, the defense really allowed nothing except when put on a short field after the 3rd quarter interception.
Gunner Stockton > Arch Manning. I don’t think there’s much more to say than that.
On any remaining debate of Kirby vs. Sark, I’ll let a good follow on Dawg X who commented frequently at GTP summarize it for you:
While we’re on the topic of the win in Athens, let’s look in on the nerds’ take on Saturday night.
Talk about not being a ball-knower in this situation. I guess when it takes a last second field goal to beat a (checks notes) 1-win Boston College team, all you can do is to take a shot at your rival. Black Friday is coming, nerds. You’re going to get our best shot since we’re not likely to be in the SEC championship game. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
What did you see this weekend? Let us know in the comments.
