Lane Kiffin calls out College GameDay cast for picking Georgia over Ole Miss

On Thursday, every member of ESPN’s College GameDay crew picked Georgia to defeat Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. It didn’t take long for former Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin to call out the show hosts for their lack of confidence in Ole Miss.

“What are you guys thinking?!?!?” Kiffin wrote on X. “@CollegeGameDay⁩ Have you not watched [Ole Miss]???”

In November, Kiffin left Ole Miss ahead of the CFP to accept an offer to become LSU‘s next head coach. In turn, Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter didn’t allow Kiffin to coach the Rebels in the postseason.

The school swiftly named defensive coordinator Pete Golding its next head coach. Golding led the Rebels to a dominant 41-10 win over Tulane in the first round of the CFP. While Kiffin would have liked to have coached the team, he was still happy to see them win.

“It was awesome,” Kiffin said during an appearance on ESPN2. “It was a great day. It really was. I’m not just saying that. To watch those guys and how much they were smiling having that success.

“It was the biggest game in the history of the state of Mississippi. To blow out Tulane like that, it was awesome watching them. I was really excited for them.”

As part of his contract with LSU, Kiffin received a $250,000 bonus for Ole Miss’ win—the same amount he would’ve been paid if he’d remained in Oxford. The 50-year-old head coach will receive $500,000 if Ole Miss defeats Georgia on Thursday.

Kiffin reportedly considered attending Ole Miss’ game against Georgia with Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry. However, he ultimately decided against it.

Ole Miss fell 43-35 to Georgia when the two teams met earlier this season on Oct. 18. At the time, Kiffin was still the Rebels’ head coach. Pete Golding knows his team has a massive challenge ahead of them.

“The biggest thing is what you just said, which is not overthinking it,” Golding said on Tuesday. “Neither one of us are the same team we were when we played there. I think you can get too cute sometimes. There’s a foundation of who you are and what you believe in and the things you got to do to be successful, regardless of who you play. You’re going to continue to do them. Both teams will do that.”

Ole Miss and 3-seed Georgia will square off at 7 p.m. CT. The game will air live on ESPN. The winner will advance to the CFP semifinals.