Watching Ole Miss and its fans celebrate a thrilling 32-24 win over Lane Kiffin's LSU Tigers in perhaps the most anticipated regular season game in Mississippi history, two questions popped into my head. Is Ole Miss the best team in the country? For question No. 1, I voted the Rebels as my No. 1 team in the CBS Sports 138 rankings.
Ole Miss finished No. 4 in those but surely could move up even higher if it can beat Florida on the road this weekend. The latter question is the more interesting one to tackle. It was, after all, at the crux of Ole Miss' argument to keep Kiffin last season as he pondered what he ultimately viewed as more promising situations elsewhere.
The support was there, both institutionally and from the fanbase, to keep the success rolling for years to come. As one rival program executive told CBS Sports, no one was getting better bang for their buck on NIL and revenue share spending than Ole Miss. Ultimately, Kiffin believed the grass was greener in Baton Rouge.
He had been alive to see LSU win national championships with three different coaches and believed he could be the fourth. Why can't Pete Golding keep it going, though? He's 5-1 as a head coach including four wins over top-25 opponents.
He won't always have a star like Trinidad Chambliss to rescue Ole Miss in its moments of need, but John David Baker's offense will be attractive to quarterbacks. The future still looks bright for former five-star quarterback recruit Deuce Knight, too. With Golding, the roster spending should be a bit more balanced -- it could be hard for Lane to resist adding another offensive weapon -- and give Ole Miss the depth to compete deep into a season.
Golding was always Kiffin's best recruiter on staff and should allow Ole Miss to continue recruiting at an elite level. Ole Miss signed the No. 2-rated transfer portal class last cycle and currently has the No. 14 high school class for 2027. College football is changing.
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