LSU at Ole Miss: SEC sets date for Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford
By David Wasson
Published:
The much-anticipated return of Lane Kiffin to Oxford has officially been set, and fans won’t have to wait long to see it.
Kiffin’s LSU Tigers will meet the Ole Miss Rebels in Oxford on Sept. 19, 2026.
That date, which was released Thursday during the 2026 SEC schedule reveal, is part of the conference’s first-ever 9-game league format. The SEC announced in August it would begin playing 9 conference games for each school beginning in 2026, and that each program will continue to be required to schedule at least 1 opponent from the ACC, Big Ten, or Big 12, or Notre Dame.
Kiffin bolted Ole Miss for Baton Rouge after the Rebels completed their first-ever 11-win regular season and a week before the team learned it was the No. 6 seed in the upcoming College Football Playoff. Kiffin replaced the fired Brian Kelly at LSU, and former defensive coordinator Pete Golding replaced Kiffin at Ole Miss.
Under the new format, the SEC will continue with a single-standings, non-divisional structure. Each school will play 3 annual opponents, focused on maintaining many traditional rivalries. Each team’s remaining 6 games will rotate among the remaining conference schools, and each team will face every other SEC program at least once every 2 years and every opponent home and away in 4 years.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
