Lane Kiffin is attempting to crash the College Football Playoff

The new LSU head coach is trying, despite ESPN's best wishes, to make a real show out of Thursday's Ole Miss at Georgia game

Former Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin | Ayrton Breckenridge/Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Much like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn in the 2004 classic comedy Wedding Crashers, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is trying to get into one massive shindig without an invite. According to a report from college football insider Chris Low, Kiffin may be trying (and failing) to crash the Ole Miss at Georgia Sugar Bowl game on Jan. 1.

Unless this is the first college football story you've ever read, our audience is well aware of the Kiffin history. It was only a month ago, roughly, that Kiffin ultimately decided to set sail for Baton Rouge and take the LSU job, leaving Ole Miss high and dry, literally, since they still had a College Football Playoff to compete in. After winning at home last week against Tulane, the Rebels now head to the Superdome in New Orleans to face Georgia, who bested them earlier in the year.

With the game being local to Kiffin, who's now in Louisiana, plus that it involves his old team and another primary SEC rival in UGA, Kiffin apparently wants to go.

"Several people at Ole Miss & LSU expect Lane Kiffin to attend the Sugar Bowl, Chris Low reports," On3 posted on X Wednesday. "Sources told On3 that Kiffin has reached out to ESPN personnel about possibly appearing in the broadcast booth for a segment during the game, although sources say ESPN hasn’t been receptive."

NEW: Several people at Ole Miss & LSU expect Lane Kiffin to attend the Sugar Bowl, Chris Low reports.

Sources told On3 that Kiffin has reached out to ESPN personnel about possibly appearing in the broadcast booth for a segment during the game, although sources say ESPN hasn’t… https://t.co/DcNfdffERu pic.twitter.com/pEeXVMZfMf

— On3 (@On3sports) December 31, 2025

So, it sounds like Lane Kiffin will likely be in attendance. After all, there's nothing and nobody stopping him from attending a neutral site football game, where as Ole Miss probably expressed last weekend that he wouldn't be allowed into the stadium under any circumstances. Expect a camera shot on Lane on Thursday.

However, will that shot be of him in the announcer's booth? Doesn't seem like it. Going to the game is fine but asking to join the booth might be a little presumptious. Why do we need to hear from *former* Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin in an awkward spot watching his old team while talking about how he's the new head coach of a bitter old divisional rival? The answer, from ESPN's view, is that we don't.

Lane Kiffin led Ole Miss to an 11-1 record as head coach in 2025 and the Rebels made it 12-1 and nabbed the program's first-ever College Football Playoff victory without him two weeks ago. This marks three straight seasons Kiffin got Ole Miss to 10+ wins as part of his sixth and of course final year with the team.