10 college football coaches with the best chance of winning first national championship next
By John Buhler
5. Lane Kiffin just might luck into one this year with a deep Ole Miss team
What you have to remember is that the sport has completely changed. What you remember college football as is no more. In the past, Ole Miss would occasionally have a nine or 10-win season, but it never would be sustainable and its strong head coach would leave for a better job with greater resources. While Lane Kiffin never beat his mentor Nick Saban, he can win a national title at Ole Miss.
No program in the SEC benefits more from the league getting rid of divisions more than Ole Miss. The Rebels' only annual rival now in an eight-game schedule is arch-rival Mississippi State. Long gone are the days of having to survive the brutal SEC West gauntlet of Alabama, Auburn, LSU and whoever else in a given year. The Rebels should be a 10-2 team again next year, which will make the playoff.
Outside of serious national title contenders Georgia and Texas, you would have to put Ole Miss on the next tier of contenders in the SEC, right? Can they win the league next year? Maybe, but I would expect for the Rebels to be one of the most dangerous at-large teams getting in no matter what. With a veteran quarterback in Jaxson Dart and blue-chipper Walter Nolen coming in, Ole Miss is so scary.
It would be called lucky if Kiffin won it all next season, but fortunes are now found to be in his favor.