Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin takes shot at Clemson football’s strength of schedule
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has never been afraid to stir the pot.
His latest dig came at the expense of Clemson football and Dabo Swinney when he critiqued the Tigers’ schedule and insinuated they weren’t a “real” playoff team.
On Tuesday, Kiffin was speaking with ESPN’s Heather Dinich about future College Football Playoff expansion and models during SEC Media Days in Atlanta.
There’s been a debate raging between the SEC and Big Ten — the two leagues that essentially hold the cards in changing the playoff format — about what the CFP should look like in 2026 and beyond. The CFP currently takes 12 teams.
The Big Ten is pushing for a 16-team model in which the Big Ten and SEC both get four automatic qualifier spots, but the SEC is campaigning for a “5+11” model, featuring the five highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large bids.
Kiffin took it further, telling ESPN on Tuesday there should be no guaranteed spots for conference champions and all 16 CFP teams should be judged on an at-large basis, based on various metrics including strength of schedule.
As an example of why automatic bids for conference champions wasn’t the best format, he referenced a conversation he had with another coach about Clemson.
“I had a coach that played Clemson last year say, ‘Put Clemson on my schedule every week compared to playing SEC teams,’” Kiffin told ESPN. “But there might be years that also the ACC really does have real teams. It might change every year.”
Clemson a ‘real’ playoff team? Kiffin thinks not
The Tigers (10-4) made the 12-team CFP last year as the ACC’s automatic bid after beating SMU in the league championship game in Charlotte. Clemson was the lowest seed in the field (No. 12) and lost a first-round game at No. 5 Texas.
Although Clemson competed well with Texas in that loss, the Tigers’ inclusion in the field drew some frustrations from fans of SEC schools, including Ole Miss and South Carolina, which beat Clemson head-to-head in their regular season finale.
Kiffin insinuated Clemson was not worthy of a spot in the 12-team playoff last year as compared with other teams who played an SEC schedule instead of an ACC slate. He said that was an example of why the CFP shouldn’t have automatic qualifiers.
It’s unclear which other coach Kiffin was talking to about Clemson in the conversation he cited with ESPN. For reference, Clemson played three SEC schools last year: Georgia (Kirby Smart), USC (Shane Beamer) and Texas (Steve Sarkisian).
Kiffin also could’ve been referring to an assistant coach rather than a head coach.
The CFP, Kiffin said, should not reward “where people are just in because (they win the conference championship) or even worse, you have a really good record in the conference, you’re the second team in the conference. You didn’t win the championship, but you only lost one or two games, but you didn’t play anybody.”
Clemson was 0-3 against the SEC last year.
Ole Miss had playoff hopes last year but missed the field at 9-3 (5-3 SEC) after inopportune losses to Kentucky and Florida and played in the Gator Bowl. For comparison’s sake, Ole Miss had a better strength of record (No. 13 vs. No. 25) but Clemson had a better strength of schedule (No. 28 vs. No. 39) in 2024, per ESPN.
The CFP did make one change to its format for 2025 after some grumblings about the top four highest ranked conference champions getting automatic byes. For 2025, the top four conference champs are still guaranteed access but not a top 4 seed.
This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 11:21 AM.
