SEC Nation crew talks Ole Miss-Florida, Kiffin coaching rumors

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

The SEC Nation crew spent much of Saturday morning’s Florida–Ole Miss discussion focused on Lane Kiffin, who remains at the center of every rumor surrounding the Gators’ coaching search.

A brief on-field report from Kris Budden touched on the actual football. Florida interim coach Billy Gonzales spoke with freshman quarterback DJ Lagway this week to ease the pressure on him after a three-interception game and subsequent benching in the second half.

However, the coaching vacancy is the only thing the panel cared about. Kiffin has toed the line in press conferences despite being directly asked multiple times about the potential of leaving Ole Miss for Florida. It's clear that he's focused on this game and getting revenge against the team that stopped the Rebels from making the College Football Playoff a year ago.

Lane Kiffin to Florida rumors at an all time high

"(Kiffin) has handled it well, but that hasn't stopped the noise," Paul Finebaum said. "This week, it went from DEFCON 20 to DEFCON 1. Everybody has a friend who has a friend who knows Tim Tebow, who knows that Lane Kiffin is the next coach at Florida, and the fact that they're playing this week makes it more dramatic. There's nothing Lane Kiffin can do to stop it except saying, 'I just signed yet another extension at Ole Miss and I will be here the rest of my life.'"

To be clear, Tebow doesn't know who the next coach is, and Kiffin has made no such announcement. Tebow does understand the hype, though, and knows that the person this game matters the most to is Kiffin.

"This is a big game for so money reasons — I mean, many reasons — if you're Lane Kiffin," Tim Tebow said. "It's more leverage for him at Ole Miss—"

"Or a higher price tag at Florida," Jordan Rodgers cut in.

"Wherever he chooses to go," Tebow clarified. "When you look at him, he's such a hot commodity because of what he's done in developing quarterbacks, a style of offense and also, in the last few years, winning the big games — beating Georgia last year. I think there's a lot of people who want him as their head coach."

"This Florida team quit, physically"

Last year's 24-17 upset over Kiffin and the Rebels in the Swamp is still fresh in the mind for Ole Miss. Revenge is the only option, and the only thing that can stop them is coming out complacent.

"(Ole Miss) should have been in the College Football Playoff last season if they beat this Florida team," Rodgers added. "They were good enough to beat Florida. They laid an egg, and that won't happen today. He's going to have his team ready to go. We saw this Florida team quit, physically, against Kentucky."

Florida's effort wasn't the best last week, but Gonzales told the media that none of his players quit on the field. That was a major point of discussion in the weekly post-game coaches meeting to recap what went wrong (or right). The SEC Nation crew doesn't buy it, though.

"According to the injury report, they were in Cancun last week," Roman Harper joked. "They're Cancun, Florida to me moving forward."

SEC Nation predictions for Florida-Ole Miss

As always, the panel revealed its predictions for the upcoming game at the end of the show. It was a clean sweep for Ole Miss.

Tebow: Ole Miss. Too much on the line for them. It's too important to Lane, too important to this team. They cannot let this one slip.

Rodgers: Yeah, physicality is going to be big in this one. I think Kewan Lacy is going to have a big day. Ole Miss, like (Tebow) said, they are focused. Lane wants this game. They're going to go take it.

Harper: Normally, I'd be a little bit concerned, but Ole Miss-Cancun Florida — I'll take anybody playing Florida by 50.

Finebaum: This is a team sport, but I think the problem for Florida is you're going to see a lot of individual showboating. Why? I think they're all showing off for their next coach.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators football SEC Nation Week 12 predictions, discussion

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos