Bandwagoning: Kiffin hype overshadowed Golding's hot start

Disclaimer: Bandwagoning is not a ranking of the best or worst teams, the biggest wins or worst losses. It’s instead an inexact assessment of the emotions experienced by various fan bases following their most recent game. There is nothing scientific about this. Not a thing.

JUMPING ON: A harsh truth was lost in the hype surrounding Lane Kiffin’s return to Oxford to face Ole Miss. 

The Rebels won, 32-24, in a cauldron of a stadium that fueled a return perhaps like no other in college football history. It also added to a career-beginning start like no other before.

Pete Golding – who was promoted from defensive coordinator when Kiffin split before the 2025 CFP – is on a career-starting heater. He’s the only person ever to beat four ranked opponents in his first six games as a head coach. Golding guided the Rebels to CFP wins over Tulane and Georgia – ranked 17th and second, respectively, at the time –  along with their season-opening victory over then-No. 24 Louisville.

By contrast, Kiffin is now 13-26 against ranked opponents. He left Ole Miss for a seven-year, $91 million deal to coach the Tigers. That’s a dismal .333 winning percentage against top-25 teams, the ones where the elite coaches are supposed to make hay.

The math doesn’t math, apparently, for anyone outside of Louisiana.

WHEELS BUCKLING: The SEC’s nine-game schedule is going to give us all we hoped – and maybe what some dreaded.

There are four ranked matchups on the SEC’s Week 4 schedule. That’s the most on a single day from one conference since the AP Top 25 poll was founded in 1936. 

It happens thanks to a pair of newbies cracking the poll in Florida (3-0, 1-0 SEC) and Mississippi State (3-0, 1-0 SEC). The Gators are 21st after winning the resumption of their rivalry with Auburn, 44-39; the Bulldogs are 24th thanks to a 41-34 victory at South Carolina.

Their reward? Florida hosts No. 4 Ole Miss, while MSU entertains No. 19 Missouri. Also playing during Week 4 will be No. 1 Texas at No. 14 Tennessee and No. 10 LSU at No. 23 Texas A&M.

Actually, it’s five ranked matchups if you consider No. 2 Georgia plays Oklahoma, which is 24th in the coaches poll.

But this record-setting weekend could occasionally repeat itself going forward. Nine SEC teams are currently ranked in the AP Top 25, with Kentucky and Oklahoma looming just outside.

And while that promises to create high-level matchups with high-level stakes, it also will force us to retrain our brains. The odds of any team navigating the SEC undefeated are already long thank to the league’s parity. But the chances shrink exponentially because of that extra conference game. After all, even Vanderbilt isn’t Vanderbilt anymore.

What’s left is to reassess what defines a good season. A 7-2 record – once a bummer of a record for the SEC’s elite – suddenly won’t seem all that bad. 

Just ask the loser of this weekend’s game between LSU at Texas A&M. The team that falls short in College Station will have started SEC play 0-2 with a whole lot of season left to play.

JUMPING OFF: Just run out of the back of the end zone. Or take a knee for a safety. Maybe even sling it as far into the stands as possible. Anything to run out the clock.

Each of those options likely would’ve sealed a win for North Carolina State at Vanderbilt. But did the Wolfpack call for any of those? Nope, and Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren is now 1-8 against SEC opponents.

With a three-point lead and only six seconds remaining, N.C. State quarterback C.J. Bailey took the snap at the Wolfpack’s 5-yard line before drifting backward and fumbling in the end zone. The Commodores (3-0) recovered for a touchdown with one second left to secure an improbable 35-31 win.

How improbable? Prior to the game, teams with the ball and the lead with less than 10 seconds remaining were 1,061-1 over the last 20 years. Well, now it’s 1,061-2.

Just as gut-turning, however, was how a coach who is now 1-8 vs. SEC opponents deflected accountability. 

“I can’t go out there and tackle for guys, and I can’t hang on to the ball for guys,” Doeren, now in his 14th season at N.C. State (1-2, 0-1 ACC), said. “We we called a good game, and they made some plays, and we made some plays. We made enough to be in the lead for 59 minutes and 59 seconds at an SEC school on the road.

“Played pretty damn good, and coached pretty good. We didn’t make that play at the end.”

And he didn’t say the right things afterward, either.

Ironically, a Doeren-coached N.C. State team hasn’t defeated an SEC opponent since beating Vanderbilt 41-17 in the 2016 Independence Bowl.

JUMPING ON: West Virginia is running it back like it’s 2007 – or at least that’s the vibe so far this season for Rich Rod 2.0.

The Mountaineers beat then-No. 25 Virginia, 38-27, in Charlotte to improve to 3-0. And the blueprint was a familiar one: a dual-threat quarterback who’s complemented by a stellar running back.

Michael Hawkins, Jr., completed 10 of 17 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 123 yards and two more scores. Cam Cook – who led the nation in rushing last season at Jacksonville State – ran for three touchdowns while also rolling up 123 yards.

Three of WVU’s final four opponents are currently ranked, but that stretch doesn’t begin until Nov. 7 at Texas Tech. That leaves the Mountaineers five games up until then to position themselves nicely in the parity-riddled Big 12.

SEATS GOING FAST: Louisville beat then-No. 16 SMU 41-31 during Week 3. Now it just needs to get out of its own way from here on out to have a shot at a College Football Playoff berth.

There are no currently ranked teams on the Cardinals’ (2-1, 1-0 ACC) remaining schedule, leaving a presumably friendly path toward an 11-1 regular season. And their lone defeat becomes less penal with each week, as it came via a last-second field goal by Ole Miss during Week 0 in Nashville. 

Even a second loss coming in the ACC Championship wouldn’t necessarily be damning. Remember, an 11-2 SMU team made the CFP in 2024 despite falling to Clemson in the ACC title game. 

HOT TICKETS: Hostile environments … Northwestern … Indiana QB Josh Hoover … UMass head coach Joe Harasymiak … North Carolina DL Xavier Lewis … Games in Europe … Florida RB Jadan Baugh … Notre Dame’s run defense … Georgia Tech’s gold-and-grey uniforms … Morgan Freeman on College GameDay.

COLD TICKETS: Lightning delays … UNLV … Florida State QB Ashton Daniels … New Mexico’s offensive line … Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed … Random contract extensions … SMU OL P.J. Williams … Bowling Green’s run defense … Texas Tech’ Dark Mode uniforms … Ted Cruz on College GameDay.

Scott Hamilton is a veteran sports journalist and host with more than 20 years of experience across college sports, golf and NASCAR. An AP Top 25 voter and national media contributor, he is a featured voice and host for Back Porch Sports.