Prominent Ole Miss booster yearns for what LSU, Florida, and Tennessee have in SEC

The Ole Miss Rebels just had their best season in program history, and yet, because Lane Kiffin ditched them for the LSU Tigers and took most of his top assistants with him, there's no guarantee winning football will continue in Oxford, Mississippi. At least not with the CFP involved.

Prominent Ole Miss booster Matt Bowers, owner of Matt Bowers Auto Group and a New Orleans native, took to X to share his desire to have a fanbase that lives and breathes football like LSU's, the Florida Gators, or the Tennessee Volunteers'. Having fans with no ties to the school, Bowers relayed, is the best way to compete in the NIL/rev-share era.

Clearly, Bowers is worried about the Rebs' future and sees those programs as having a more sustainable structure. There's no other reason he'd call out the Ole Miss fanbase so blatantly.

Bowers stopped short of putting the Alabama Crimson Tide in that group, though he did mention them, probably as an ode to their success of yesteryear. Also noticeably absent were the Georgia Bulldogs.

"This is a touchy subject. I come in peace. I actually think (having non-alumni fans) is what gives LSU an edge. The most vocal and most extreme fans aren’t affiliated w/ the school via attendance or donations. They buy tickets and beer and merch and always show up. LSU, Florida, UTenn, Bama(somewhat) all have this part of their fanbase but LSU (to me at least) has the strongest," Bowers said.

"I WISH Ole Miss had a regional fanbase like that. It’s true 90%+ of the stadium has some affiliation w the school. It’s hard to recruit that as adults. It’s a thing you have to grow up with I think. It’s part of the culture in South Louisiana. It’s not like that many places in the country."

Ultimately, Bowers is spending a lot, but not getting enough help from other donors, and is understandably frustrated at the lack of donations circulating in North-Central Mississippi.

Of course, Kiffin couldn't help himself, responding to Bowers with a troll to a fanbase that is licking their chops waiting for the Bayou Bengals to head to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on September 19.

Keep kicking the Rebs while they're down, Lane.

READ MORE: DeBoer sent dire warning after UGA, Texas, LSU put Alabama 'under the radar'

Auburn needs to get back into these conversations

Sadly, the Auburn Tigers were not even on Bowers' mind. The program's dysfunction has made its inclusion in these statements stick out like a sore thumb, so most exclude them for obvious and fair reasons.

Auburn hasn't exactly given fans the chance to show their support on account of the lack of bowl games over the past several years. Making the Birmingham Bowl gave Protective Stadium a nice attendance pop, but the Music City Bowl lacked attendance. The conditions in Nashville certainly didn't help that year, nor did the somewhat underwhelming opponent, the Maryland Terrapins. Well, Maryland showed up that day more than Auburn did, even if Tiger fans outnumbered the Terps' faithful.

Either way, Auburn is out of sight and out of mind in these conversations, and that needs to change. One Tigers home game in the CFP would have everyone realizing the power of the orange and blue.

Alex Golesh, the world is yours if you can restore glory on the Plains. You'll have the most passionate fanbase in the country, and be known as the man who brought them back from a five-year-long depression.