What was supposed to be a historic march by the Ole Miss Rebels into the College Football Playoffs has instead been overshadowed by the shockwaves of Lane Kiffin’s stunning exit. His decision to accept a $91 million offer to coach LSU not only bruised emotions but has thrust the realities of modern college football into glaring view.

Pete Golding, the Rebels fiery defensive coordinator, has seized the head coaching duties as Ole Miss prepares to face Tulane on December 20 in the first round of the College Football Playoffs. But Mr. Kiffin’s decision to leave Oxford at a time when his players need him the most hangs over the expanded CFP as the latest example of how loyalty, the welfare players are routinely sacrificed for lucrative contracts, prestige and a bigger NIL budget.

“There’s no good way to ever leave your team,” Ron Higgins, a long-time SEC insider and member of the Louisiana Athletic Hall of Fame, tells The New York Sun. “I understand why he’s getting all the smoke, and he brings a lot of it on himself. But all the guy did was take another job.”

The CFP was expanded from four to 12 teams starting in 2024 to calm the complaints from schools that felt they should have been included. The first round begins on Dec. 19, but not everyone is celebrating.

Notre Dame, which finished 10-2, is so angered by not being included in the playoffs that it voted to boycott the bowl season completely. 

The inclusion of a Group 5 representative instead of a higher-ranked Power 4 team continues to be a talking point, along with the impact of players leaving for the portal and now coaches leaving to take jobs with other teams.

The Real Reasons Why Kiffin Left for LSU

LSU targeted Mr. Kiffin after firing Brian Kelly in October. Mr. Kiffin spent six seasons in Oxford, building the Rebels to historic heights, including a 11-1 record and No. 6 ranking nationally this season. Florida also pursued Mr. Kiffin, who ultimately chose LSU. It wasn’t just a money grab.  LSU offers unique resources, being the only Power 4 school in the state, and has a deep reservoir of NIL money.

Mr. Higgins believes Mr. Kiffin also embraced the pressure that comes along with coaching LSU where expectations are annually at their highest.  “There’s a point when you get an offer and you want to see if you can do it,” Mr. Higgins said. “But he felt this is my chance to coach a program that’s on another level than Ole Miss.”

LSU also doesn’t have the baggage that lingers at Ole Miss. Along with having to compete with Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi for players, Ole Miss is still tainted by its past racial issues. “Ole Miss has done a good job digging out from where they were,” Mr. Higgins said. “But some grandfathers and fathers of potential African-American recruits still view the university through the lens of the movie, “Mississippi Burning,” a 1988 film based on the 1964 murders of three civil rights workers.

While Mr. Kiffin is being scorned for leaving Ole Miss, despite requesting to coach the team through the playoffs, Tulane coach Jon Sumrall continues to be fully supported despite having accepted a reported $45 million contract to be next head coach at Florida. Tulane promoted assistant coach Will Hall to be next head coach, but Mr. Sumrall will continue to lead the Group 5 representative and American Conference champion throughout its playoff run.

Ole Miss Moves On

When Mr. Kiffin announced on Nov. 30 that he was leaving Ole Miss, he said “the team” requested that he keep coaching them so they could “better maintain their high level of performance.”

Several players challenged that, with lineman Paris Wilkins posting, “This was not said from anyone.”

The Rebels are rallying around Mr. Golding, who took a jab at Mr. Kiffin’s celebrity persona without mentioning his name. “I’m not changing who I am,” Mr. Golding said. “I ain’t changing what the hell I wear or going to yoga or playing pickleball. I am who I am. We’re going to roll. We’re going to do this thing the right way. We’re going to give it our best shot and see what happens.”

According to ESPN, four offensive assistants Mr. Kiffin took with him to LSU have returned to Oxford to assist Ole Miss during the playoffs. The group includes offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, Jr., who directs an offense that ranks third nationally in total offense at 498.1 yards per game and third in the SEC in scoring at 37.3 points per game.

Mr. Golding said he told Mr. Weis, “This isn’t about 2026. It’s about 2025 and doing what we’re responsible to do for the players, right, to put them in the best position to have success because they deserve that.”

Ole Miss and Tulane met on Sept. 20 in Oxford with the Rebels, claiming a 45-10 victory.

Notre Dame Remains Unhappy With Omission

The Fighting Irish are on the outside looking in of the CFP after being snubbed despite a 10-2 record and being ranked in the top 10 of every CFL ranking during the regular season. When it came time for selection, Notre Dame was passed over for the University of Miami despite neither team playing a game in the past week.

The Hurricane defeated Notre Dame 27-24 on August 31 and the selection committee cited their head-to-head matchup in choosing Miami.

The Irish decided to take their football and go home, announcing they would not participate in a bowl game this season. Notre Dame, an independent in football, but a member of the ACC in 24 of their other sports, felt their conference partner didn’t offer them enough support.

“It raised a lot of eyebrows here that the conference was taking shots at us,” Notre Dame athletic director, Pete Bevacqua said, adding, “They have certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame.”

Choosing Miami was bad enough, but Notre Dame couldn’t stomach Alabama making the field with three losses.

Expansion to 16 Teams Coming Soon

Reports indicate the CFP and ESPN, which holds its broadcast rights, have until January 23 to decide whether to expand the playoffs from 12 to 16 teams. The original deadline of Dec. 1 was pushed back to allow more time to discuss future playoff models. Expansion into a 24-team format is a possibility.

“While no change to the current format is definite, this extension will allow the Management Committee additional time to evaluate the second year of the expanded playoff and ensure any potential modifications are carefully considered, ” the CFP announced.

Under the current format the five highest ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams are seeded into a 12-team bracket based on the final ranking, with the four highest-ranked teams receiving a first-round bye.

The teams ranked Nos. 5-12 will play in the CFP First Round, with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds. The playoff quarterfinals and semifinals rotate annually among six bowl games — the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be on Monday, January 19, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.

In addition to Ole Miss playing Tulane, other first round matchups are James Madison (12-1) at Oregon (11-0); Alabama (10-3) at Oklahoma (10-2); and Miami (10-2) at Texas A&M (11-1). Teams receiving bye are Texas Tech (12-1), Indiana (13-0), Georgia (12-0) and defending champion Ohio State (12-1).