Auburn may have a far more formidable LSU to deal with in the SEC moving forward, especially this October, after Lane Kiffin arrived with the epic talent haul he brought via the transfer portal. But Ole Miss may also be a far less formidable foe, now and over the long haul.
LSU was going to naturally improve with almost anyone it hired to replace Brian Kelly. By hiring Kiffin, it may have brought down a school in the next state over that had prospects of reaching dynastic levels in the conference.
Sunday night might've been a sign that a Rebels' ascension isn't possible anymore. This, despite Pete Golding's program scoring a one-possession, season-opening neutral-site win over an ACC foe as time expired.
The University of Mississippi may have just missed the ultimate window to ascend within the "It Just Means More" conference when Kiffin was around.
Now, Auburn has Kiffin and LSU to thank for potentially cutting off a budding powerhouse in the region at the kneecap.
And burying them on the way out with gaslighting and slander of Oxford, Mississippi, to boot.
We all know the history. As the Rebels were becoming a contender in the NIL era and ascended to the CFP for the first time, Kiffin took his ball and went to LSU. He took with him Ole Miss's best pass rusher, Princewill Umanmielen; the SEC's leading tackler from a season ago, linebacker TJ Dottery; and key staff members, like offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and seven other position coaches.
He may have also taken the desire and/or capacity for donors to spend big at Ole Miss into the future.
On Sunday night, the Rebels' regression from the Kiffin era was evident, despite a 41-38 win over Louisville in Nashville. As great as the team looked coming together to secure the win late, the amount of drama it took to get there against an opponent of the Cards' caliber is noticeable.
This year may see a step back from Ole Miss's CFP semifinal finish this past January. This year's Rebels might not even be a CFP team. Last year's team may have been running on fumes from Kiffin's betrayal once the playoff began.
What's scary is that it's even more unclear what the future looks like on the Grove in 2027 and beyond.
With Kiffin, program growth was expected as long as he was around. If Ole Miss starts losing, how long will it take for the Rebels to resemble modern-day Mississippi State? The spending is picking up in Starkville, but the excitement hasn't been there since Mike Leach's tragic passing.
Ole Miss is clearly not the same powerhouse it was in 2025
Louisville quarterback Lincoln Kienholz looked like a stud against Ole Miss at Nissan Stadium, and it's clear that three years at Ohio State under Ryan Day were three crucial developmental years that paid off. Jeff Brohm and his staff assembled a stellar offense, adding Lawayne McCoy and Tre Richardson through the portal as receiving weapons for Kienholz. The chemistry was instant on Sunday night between Kienholz and those two.
This is to say, the Cards were not the kind of opponent that should be discarded. A win over them is impressive no matter what.
Still, there were key areas where the Rebels looked worse than last year. Big picture, the program doesn't seem capable of reaching the same standard as Kiffin's 2025 group.
One key sign of regression was setting up the pass with the run, or rather, struggling to. Trinidad Chambliss was his brilliant, typical dynamic self and created his own offense out of broken plays. Still, all of the running backs, even Kewan Lacy, failed to generate at least four yards per carry. Weis's prolific play-calling that promoted a strong ground game was clearly missed.
The Ole Miss pass rush brought the goods, even without the aforementioned personnel losses to LSU, but Kienholz was often just too tough to catch. Golding upheld a high standard with his linebackers, and the defensive line performed admirably. The secondary was an issue, though. The tackling was bad on the third level, and Louisville ended up with over 300 yards passing. There were blown coverages all throughout the second half.
Golding has an engaging personality and promotes good culture. Oftentimes, his schemes ask the secondary to take big risks in the passing game, though. It's unclear if Golding brought on enough talent to cover for that this year.
When the Rebels travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Halloween night, the Tigers need not expect the same scary Ole Miss team that only lost to Miami and Georgia and even avenged the loss to the Dawgs later as last season progressed through the CFP. Looking at the 2026 schedule, you could see two to three losses for the Rebels before the end of October.
Kiffin winning at LSU, which it looks like he'll do plenty after a Week 1 destruction of Clemson, only makes it seem like he was the real draw, not Ole Miss.
Spending big in 2026 and getting poor returns will only have the Rebels' brain trust questioning its ability to compete in the marketplace as prices keep rising. These various Ole Miss NIL collectives are valiant, but everyone is feeling the squeeze of this unsustainable NIL economy.
Ole Miss may become recruiting threat Auburn seldom worries about
What Kiffin did to Ole Miss is something that they may be cursing in north-central Mississippi long beyond this season. If/when the Rebels fall back down to earth, the recruiting excitement in the region could die down dramatically.
There won't be the same portal expenditures, meaning there won't be as many top-ranked portal classes anymore. Or maybe any.
The money was spent on Golding's first year to build the excitement for future years and to get revenge on Kiffin on September 19. If this year doesn't do that? Veterans will find better-suited win-now landing spots with deeper pockets.
The high school recruiting was never elite under Kiffin. It'll only get worse for Ole Miss under Golding if this year falls off the rails.
Auburn will have one less local SEC rival to worry about in most respects, in that case. Things will go back to the pre-Lane days, when the Rebels were an assumed win on the Tigers' schedule. Auburn was 18-3 against Ole Miss from 2000 to 2021. The Rebels own the last two wins, but the tide could be turning soon.
Ole Miss is vulnerable. One crack in that foundation, and the Rebels could crash back down to their previous baseline of decent, but towards the middle of the SEC pack. It's sad that one man really had all that power.
Perhaps that crack was evident against Louisville on Sunday night. If that ends up being the case, Auburn and other SEC schools, and truly any Power 4 program looking to build through the portal, have Lane and LSU to thank for Ole Miss's potential fall from national relevance.
The Rebels' fanbase deserved better, but it's not a 100% guarantee they'll ever get better from here on out.
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