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Bad Take Tuesday: Ole Miss is SEC title-bound (already)

by: RT Young2 hours ago
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Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian

Is this a Bad Take Tuesday or a reverse jinx attempt? You tell me.

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I’ve written a BTT before about the SEC’s eight-game conference schedule being an abomination. That was before Greg Sankey and the member universities finally adopted a nine-game format starting in 2026. But the ratification of common sense going forward doesn’t mean the current awful setup won’t go out with a bang or a cackling last laugh.

Because of the eight-game schedule, Ole Miss has basically already punched its ticket to Atlanta. The SEC Championship is Ole Miss versus blank.

Steve Sarkisian even pointed it out in yesterday’s presser: Lane Kiffin’s Rebels are already 3-0 in the SEC before Texas has played a single conference game. With only five conference games left, it’s safe to assume they’re in with just one loss.

The résumé? Ole Miss has already taken down Arkansas, Kentucky, and LSU. They host Washington State on October 11 before heading to Athens. That trip to Georgia will be an elimination game for the Bulldogs, who are already sitting on one SEC loss after falling to Alabama. From there, the Rebels travel to Norman. If they split those two games, which they should then it’s a wrap. They close with South Carolina, a Florida corpse and Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl.

So, Coach Kiffin, go ahead and book the hotel in Atlanta. Get poor Whit Weeks a ticket to watch the championship game from the stands.

This isn’t really throwing shade at the Rebels. They’re good, maybe even really good. Kiffin has his ideal offense this year and it’s humming. Between Trinidad Chambliss and Austin Simmons, Ole Miss has two quarterbacks capable of winning big games.

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But here’s the point: the eight-game schedule sucked before Texas and Oklahoma joined the SEC and it’s even worse now. In a 16-team conference without divisions, you need more data. You need teams crossing paths, real head-to-heads, something resembling rationality. Without it, you get quirks and chaos. Like a team already a ticket to the SEC Championship in September.

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