Lane Kiffin crying over the SEC's schedule already will make Michigan fans crack up

Lane Kiffin knows what it is like to not coach in the College Football Playoff out of the SEC. While if he left well enough alone, he would have done the thing last season at Ole Miss, but to massive rival LSU he went... All the while, the SEC has not played in a national championship since Georgia won it all in 2022-23. It has left many football fans questioning the SEC's credibility, including on Pardon My Take.

Kiffin appeared on the popular show, trying his best to explain why the SEC keeps coming up short.

"There's a lot into that. I think it's set up in a good way for the top-heavy teams that are right now. I think now, and it's going to get better, we're going to nine games, and our bottom is harder than theirs, and our bottom stadiums are harder than theirs. So we're going to beat each other up more, and they're going to sit up there and have two or three hard games a year."

For as sound as the first part was, this is where Kiffin loses all credibility when it comes to his point.

"Their top teams and our top teams, when they go to the playoffs, they're in better shape. That stuff matters. It's like I've always been a proponent to stay at eight games and let us make our own, whoever we want to play and don't tell us who we have to play. We would do the model of the last place I was just at."

He then talked about scheduling nobody in the non-conference, much to Michigan fan's chagrin...

"We went 20-0 in non-conference, regular-season games at Ole Miss. 20-0. We didn't play any big openers. This place went a four-year span, lost three-of-four openers. 'Yeah, that's so great.' Well, you don't get rewarded for it because it's not worth it enough in the season, but also that schedule where half your games you don't have to get up for, it's just a mental toll..."

This last remark felt a thinly-veiled shot at Indiana, but the Hoosiers were the only team to go 16-0...

"Plus, your good players are out by the fourth quarter, so your play count at the end of the year is less. One of the really good teams they rested a couple of their good players in games, and in conference games at the end of the year."

Here is everything Kiffin shared with Big Cat and PFT Commenter on Pardon My Take about this topic.

Let's unpack how comparing Michigan to that of Ole Miss truly unravels Kiffin's point on the matter.

Lane Kiffin once again failed to see the big picture in Big Ten's dominance

This grandiose blanket statement put forth by Kiffin is incredibly typical of him. The arrogance with which he operates is unlike any other in the sport today. He had the audacity to leave Ole Miss amid its greatest season in 60-something years, to go to a rival program that could not win season openers under his predecessor Brian Kelly. LSU has the higher ceiling, but so does the Big Ten in this new era...

Kiffin may have done a phenomenal job in raising Ole Miss' floor and elevating the Rebels' ceiling during his time in Oxford. Prior to him taking over, Ole Miss would regularly miss out on bowl games. In a bad year for them, they would win nine or 10 games. Prior to last season, Ole Miss would almost always lose a game it could not afford, due in large part to scheduling no one in the non-conference.

And that right there should land poorly with Michigan fans. Had Michigan not played Oklahoma in Norman last year, and scheduled some Group of Six cupcake instead, the Wolverines might have been the fourth Big Ten team to make the playoff. Instead, they were up against it during The Game with Ohio State in The Horseshoe. On the other side of the coin, who exactly did Ole Miss even play?

Last year, Ole Miss was the only team in the SEC that did not play a Power Four team in the non-conference. Yes, Group of Six programs like Tulane and Washington can be of quality sometimes. However, it is not the same as Michigan having to play Oklahoma in a night game on the road in Norman. To make this matter even more hilarious for Michigan fans, they have to play them again, too!

While Kiffin tries to find his footing in his new SEC job, Kyle Whittingham has come over from Utah. The future hall-of-fame head coach just switched leagues. Not only does he get a playoff-caliber Oklahoma team in The Big House in September, but Whittingham must host Indiana, as well as play Oregon in Autzen and Ohio State in Columbus. That is about as tough of a schedule as one can get.

Ultimately, while they may be merit to the bottom of the SEC being better, or even to the notion that the Big Ten has a soft belly in the middle of its league, the best teams in this conference are better equipped to go on deeper runs in the postseason. As the weather starts to change, their style of ball-control football does play a part in making sure any game does not get out of hands in rapid fashion.

Kiffin tried his best to solve a complicated issue, but he is the wrong messenger to speak for the SEC.

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