Paul Finebaum sees a missed opportunity for Lane Kiffin after his Ole Miss Rebels, formerly ranked at No. 9 in the nation, fell to the Florida Gators, 24-17 on the road.

Ole Miss has one of the best teams it has had in recent history, and perhaps even further than that. That was marked by quality wins over teams like Georgia that the Rebels have not been able to even compete with in ages.

But it all means nothing if the Rebels aren’t able to do something with all that talent, according to Finebaum.

“This is the year Lane Kiffin built towards. There’s no way to look at it positively,” Finebaum said. “I feel badly because we sat here 2 weeks ago talking about Lane Kiffin finally shedding the reputation. And here he literally throws the best win of his career away by suffering what I think may be the most costly loss.”

Finebaum went on to say that Kiffin may not have a team under him as talented as this one is again and that it has perhaps been as long as 60 years since Ole Miss has reached anywhere near these heights in terms of talent on the roster.

“I don’t know where he goes, he’s got a lot of soul-searching to do. There’s not really a place for him to go right now I don’t think,” Finebaum continued. “That could change, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Lane Kiffin is walking in the woods on Thanksgiving getting ready for the Egg Bowl… I don’t know where he goes at Ole Miss with blowing an opportunity with his best team and the best team at Ole Miss in many generations.”

The Rebels will finish out the season with what should be a blowout Egg Bowl win over a struggling Mississippi State team that has not even been remotely relevant since the late Mike Leach was at the helm, and is still having issues finding an identity as the season ends under Jeff Lebby.

Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CT in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. It will be curious to see what the postseason looks like for the Rebels from that point.