Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin Didn't Know Who Was Playing In World Series

Do not expect Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin to be glued to the television during the World Series, which was scheduled to open on Tuesday night (FOX, 7 p.m. central) with the National League champion Atlanta Braves playing at the American League champion Houston Astros.

Asked if he had any thoughts on the matchup at his weekly press conference Monday, Kiffin paused and said, "I'm not just saying this so I can sound like a cool coach that's so dedicated to his football program. I do not know who's playing in the World Series."

As laughter broke, Kiffin said, "But I think a lot of coaches say that so they can be like, 'I don't leave my office.'"

The reporter then said he thought Kiffin may have an affinity for the Los Angeles Dodgers as Kiffin was an assistant coach at USC in Los Angeles for six years and its head coach for more than three seasons.

"It's the Braves and Astros. The Dodgers had a chance," Kiffin was told.

"You just confused me. Oh, it's not the finals yet," he said.

"It is the World Series," he was told.

"So, that'd be two teams," he said.

"The Dodgers were eliminated by the Braves," he was told.

"Thank you," Kiffin said. "You gave me three. I was very confused. I didn't even know who was in the semis, or whatever they call it? The ALCS. So, we've got so many problems on offense trying to figure out who plays somewhere."

No. 10 Ole Miss (6-1, 3-1 SEC) plays at No. 18 Auburn (5-2, 2-1 SEC) at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN. FanDuel has Ole Miss as a 2.5-point underdog.

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Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.