LSU-Ole Miss Portal War Has Fans Already Eager For Next Season
"I think you and I are destined to do this forever."
The college football offseason is barely a week old, but two familiar rivals are having their own version of a Cold War that is sure to continue well into next fall.
LSU and Ole Miss have been rivals since Grover Cleveland was in office, and the intensity of The Magnolia Bowl has only ratcheted up since the Tigers swooped in and stole the best coach in the history of Rebel football.
READ: Ole Miss-LSU Rivalry Escalates With State Governors Trading Shots Online
Since then, a conflict has been brewing between the two SEC programs, with their battleground of choice being the transfer portal.
Upon first glance, it would appear that Lane Kiffin and LSU got the better of his old program, with the Tigers securing the number one portal class in the country this offseason.
That's a hell of a transfer portal haul for anyone, but it's really important that Kiffin landed a class of this magnitude in year one, when coaches need all the momentum they can get to really set things into motion.
It's worth noting that he landed the best player at the three most important positions on the field (quarterback, edge rusher, and left tackle).
One of those names may look familiar to anyone with prior knowledge of Kiffin's old roster, as Rebels edge rusher Princewill Umanmielen followed his old coach to his new school.
The prevailing theory, though, was that this could have been a lot worse for Ole Miss, with plenty of Rebels players rumored to have been flight risks for Baton Rouge.
READ: Lane Kiffin Angers Woke Mob With Overnight Donald Trump Post
That ended up not being the case, as Ole Miss fought hard to retain some of their best players, like Kewan Lacy and Trinidad Chambliss, the latter of whom is fighting for his sixth year of eligibility.
Should he win that appeal, it's believed he will stay in Oxford rather than jump ship into Kiffin's arms.
This should be viewed as a huge victory for the Rebels that they were able to retain most of their best players during a coaching transition, but there's some added juice for new coach Pete Golding knowing he was able to stave off his former boss's advances towards his roster.
And it's not like the Rebels got a participation ribbon for keeping their players home this portal cycle, either.
Ole Miss grabbed the number two portal class in the country according to 247Sports, just behind its former head coach in the rankings.
247 Sports
As The Joker once said in The Dark Knight, "I think you and I are destined to do this forever."
One thing is for sure, LSU and Ole Miss fans already don't like each other, but these portal wars combined with the Lane Kiffin Saga will make this game appointment television next season.
September 19, 2026. Mark your calendars, folks.
I can hardly wait.