Why Tennessee-LSU Will be a Bigger Game Than Ole Miss-LSU

All the college football world seems to be talking about is the Ole Miss-LSU game in the fall, but Vols on SI believes that it will not even be the biggest game of LSU's season.

Mississippi Football Coach Lane Kiffin waves to the crowd after a football game between Tennessee and Ole Miss at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Kns Tennessee Ole Miss Football Bp | Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

By this point, everybody who has known college football for at least the past year knows the story of Lane Kiffin leaving Ole Miss midseason for LSU. Kiffin leaving unexpectedly is something Tennessee fans know all too well.

Lane Kiffin was the head coach at Tennessee for one season back in 2009. After going 7-6 in that one season, Kiffin left a bad taste in the mouths of Tennessee fans when he left for USC. What made it sting even more for Vols fans is that he assured them he was going to be at Tennessee for a long time, just to leave after one year.

A whole lot of accusations and a few different coaching destinations later, Kiffin returned to Neyland Stadium for the first time as a head coach in 2021.

The game was tense all night long, with multiple items being thrown onto the field during the game. It got so crazy that the game had to be delayed, and coaches, players, and even the cheerleaders had to be removed from the sideline at one point during the contest.

Kiffin is set to return to Neyland Stadium for the second time as a head coach, now at LSU.

This year, the talk is not centered around Kiffin’s game against Tennessee, but rather his return to Oxford to play Ole Miss. This makes sense with everything that happened to end his tenure at Ole Miss, but I would argue that the LSU-Tennessee game is the bigger matchup.

Why LSU-Tennessee is a Bigger Game than LSU-Ole Miss

LSU will take on the Ole Miss Rebels on September 19th (week three) of the 2026 season. Like previously mentioned, the game has been the talk of the college football world this offseason. However, what implications does the game have outside of the Kiffin Storyline? Sure, LSU and Ole Miss had a little rivalry brewing before this, but for the most part, things are pretty tame between the two. Plus, the game is happening so early in the season that neither team knows the trajectory of its season.

On the other hand, Tennessee is taking on LSU at the end of the season on November 21st (the second-to-last week of the season). By then, both teams could be in contention for the College Football Playoffs. That, along with Kiffin’s antics, should provide for a very intense game that could be played on prime-time television.

Lane Kiffin is likely not going anywhere anytime soon, and with the way he is, I would not be surprised if more stuff comes out before both of these matchups.