A top-10 showdown with extra edge: LSU visits Ole Miss amid drama, heightened security

It started late last year when coach Lane Kiffin left the Rebels to take the LSU job and a $91 million contract just as the team he had coached for six years was days away from its first appearance in the College Football Playoff. Kiffin wanted to stay, but Ole Miss moved on to coach Pete Golding and advanced to the CFP semifinals. LSU finished 7-6, capped by a loss in the Texas Bowl.

The off-field storylines haven’t stopped since. Kiffin’s comments about whether Black players could be recruited to Ole Miss, lawsuits alleging Ole Miss transfers owe big money for reneging on their NIL deals and LSU’s now-abandoned defiance of rules against rostering former pro players have only brightened the spotlight for this one.

LSU leads the overall series between these border rivals 65-39-3, but Ole Miss has won three of the past five meetings, including last year in Oxford. The Tigers opened as 2 1/2-point favorites after giving up just two offensive touchdowns through two games, but they will be challenged by a pair of Heisman Trophy contenders in Ole Miss’ backfield: quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and running back Kewan Lacy.

Swinney vs. Belichick takes the stage in the ACC

North Carolina went 4-8 last season in Belichick’s first year and investigators this week said they examined a range of allegations tied to potential drug use, inappropriate relationships and NCAA rule violations in the football program. It is a startling list considering Belichick was hired less than two years ago on a five-year deal that included $10 million guaranteed in each of the first three years.

Swinney is 8-7 since taking the Tigers to the CFP in 2024, which was six years after the second of his two national championships. He has shrugged off criticism that he could be using the transfer portal more to land talented players, and he is tied to Clemson until 2031. The 10-year, $115 million deal signed before the 2022 season means his buyout, if fired before Jan. 1, would total $57 million.

In the Big 12, two of the favorites opened league play with a terrific game Friday night in Lubbock, where No. 13 Texas Tech held on for a 28-26 win over No. 22 Houston. Cougars QB Conner Weigman came up just short of a 2-point conversion in the final minute, a play that went to the Big 12 replay review room — the broadcast audience was able to watch and listen to the analysis — before it was upheld.

Best of the rest

— Florida at Auburn. Gators QB Aaron Philo, who will make his first road start, has completed 76% of his passes with five touchdowns. Byrum Brown, who has been new Auburn coach Alex Golesh’s starting QB for all or part of four seasons, was a 1,000-yard rusher last year.…Read more by MARK LONG