Since the ink dried on his contract with Tennessee in Dec. 2008, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin has lent his uniquely outsized personality to a sport built by and for such characters.
Sometimes his antics were harmless; sometimes they were uncomfortable or crass. Either way, he fulfilled a fascinating archetype seen more in show business than football: the child of a genius seemingly attempting to perform the work of self-discovery in real time, all while in the public eye.
This is the stuff of literary fiction—Oxford's bevy of great writers would approve—and it is the reason both the South and the sports world at large are glued to Kiffin's next move. The coach's impending decision between staying with the Rebels or bolting for LSU didn't quite overshadow rivalry week, but the fate of many coaching-search dominoes looks dependent on the eternal master of the sport's attention economy.
Enough off-field intrigue—here's hoping your academically, aesthetically and morally superior team dominated its academically, aesthetically and morally inferior rival on a snowy day throughout much of the Midwest. Welcome to Week 14's winners and losers.
Winners: Ryan Day and Ohio State, at last
It's fascinating to look back at Ohio State's 2019 win over Michigan—a 56–27 beatdown in coach Ryan Day's first year—and consider that the of that game would spend the early 2020s as a November punchline. The gulf between Day's continuous failure against the Wolverines and all-conquering success against the Not-Wolverines has disappeared; on Saturday, the Buckeyes finally beat Michigan at their own game. Much was made of Ohio State outrushing the Wolverines 186–100, but its pass defense was truly something to behold—Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood mustered just 63(!) passing yards to close an educational first collegiate season. Next up: the biggest game in the Buckeyes' 124-year-old series with Indiana.
Losers: The proposers of one of college football's worst-ever ideas
Story time: in 1989 Bill Frieder, Michigan's successful men's basketball coach of nine years, took the Arizona State job before the NCAA tournament with the intent of seeing out the Wolverines' season. Michigan athletic director Bo Schembechler dismissed him with immediate effect, and the Wolverines went on to win their only hoops national title. Non-idea ideas are a part of life in college football—as Sean Keeley of wrote in August, it's part of what makes the sport so "weird"—but multiple ESPN personalities spent their Saturdays inflicting a truly bonkers one on the world. Kirk Herbstreit, Booger McFarland and others suggested Kiffin be allowed to coach Ole Miss for the rest of the season if he leaves for the Tigers. It feels like a favor to Kiffin's camp to even bring this ridiculous notion up, but as alluded to in the introduction, that's part of the Rebels boss's double-edged hold on the college football world.
Winner: Texas, any way you slice it
Texas could make the College Football Playoff—the Longhorns own a set of wins (over Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt) just delectable enough to dilute a bad loss to Florida. The Longhorns could also miss the College Football Playoff; one look at the CFP rankings demonstrates they have a lot of traffic in front of them. Either way, in a vacuum, Texas's win over the Aggies Friday was an outstanding way to close out a season riddled with bad vibes. Most impressive was the defense, which shook off four straight games allowing 30 or more points to force Texas A&M quarterback Marcel Reed into a pair of interceptions. The Aggies haven't beaten the Longhorns since 2010.
Loser: Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech won't show up on many lists of FBS's most disappointing teams this season, because the Yellow Jackets have improved significantly as a program in coach Brent Key's three-year stint. Still, Georgia Tech finished the most unpleasant November in the sport Friday: a 12-point loss at NC State on Nov. 1, a two-point win over a poor Boston College team on Nov. 15, a home loss to Pitt last Saturday, and a seven-point loss to No. 4 Georgia on Friday that will likely drop the once-No. 7 Yellow Jackets from the AP Poll. If Key is in it for the long haul, Georgia Tech likely has a bright future as an ACC player—but this month is going to sting in Atlanta for many falls to come.
Winner: Miami, the lurker
Miami is proof positive that college football is half timing—if the Hurricanes traded their late October and early November with the Yellow Jackets' November, how would we talk about these two ACC squads? Since losing to SMU on Nov. 1, Miami has been untouchable, picking off Syracuse, the Wolfpack and Virginia Tech in a manner befitting a CFP contender. That streak allowed the Hurricanes to lurk in the middle of the Top 25 and make a statement against a good Panthers team Saturday, crushing Pitt 38–7 on the road. The DNA of the team that beat Notre Dame on Aug. 31 is still in there, and ESPN analyst Nick Saban and others are right to believe in this team.
Loser: Jacob Rodriguez's Heisman campaign
Back on Nov. 15, this column praised Texas Tech for its in-your-face bid to build Heisman Trophy buzz for linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. Alas, every celebrity worth their salt must eventually face the dangers of overexposure. As the Red Raiders annihilated West Virginia 49–0 Saturday—tying a program record with their 11th win—Texas Tech once again inserted Rodriguez at quarterback, only to watch in horror as the ex-gunslinger threw an interception. One final plea to the Red Raiders: throw some more marketing muscle behind linebacker David Bailey! He entered Saturday as FBS's sack leader and recorded four tackles against the Mountaineers.
Winner: Vanderbilt
The 2025 season will be remembered by Commodores fans in the same way the 1995 season is remembered by Northwestern fans—a perennial punching bag standing up, ignoring its history of futility, and embarking on the ride of a lifetime. Vanderbilt, the owner of previous wins over LSU and Auburn, demolished Tennessee Saturday despite a pair of first-half picks from quarterback Diego Pavia. The Commodores' 10-2 record is their best by winning percentage since 1926, when they went 8-1 under legendary coach Dan McGugin. They're an unlikely CFP team, but no fanbase will have more fun at their bowl game. Hopefully comedian Nate Bargatze will show up on time to this one.
Loser: Florida State
Florida has no coach, is said to be out of the running for Kiffin, lost 38–7 to an awful Kentucky team on Nov. 8, and found the intestinal fortitude to beat Florida State 40–21 Saturday. The Seminoles, up and down on defense all year, randomly allowed Gators running back Jadan Baugh to carry the ball 38 times for 266 yards. Coach Mike Norvell has led Florida State for six years now, a tenure that includes four bowl-less seasons, a 10-win season, and 2023's ACC championship and Orange Bowl trip. His Seminoles may be a mystery, but his need to win in 2026 is not—a return trip to Alabama, who Florida State knocked off this past September, looms Sept. 19.
Winner: New Mexico
New Mexico has (by College Football Reference's measurements) played college football for 94 years, and it has won 10 games just once—in 1982, under future South Carolina coach Joe Morrison. That may not be the case for much longer, as coach Jason Eck has led the Lobos to a terrific season in year one. Beating San Diego State 23–17 in double overtime put a bow on a 9-3 regular season for New Mexico, which can still make the Mountain West championship pending how certain computer rankings look Sunday morning. Eck, who took Idaho to its first FCS postseasons in decades at his previous stops, deserves recognition in a fertile age for turnaround artists.
Loser: Harvard
College football's real-head circles were amped when the Ivy League ended its longstanding policy blocking its teams from playing in the FCS postseason before the '25 season—now, after decades of sitting on the sidelines, the Penns and Princetons of the world could test themselves against the Northern Arizonas and Western Carolinas. This arrangement worked out splendidly for Yale, which came back to beat Youngstown State 43–42 in the playoffs Saturday, but Harvard fell on its face with a 52–7 loss to Villanova. What a sour ending for the Crimson, who fell 45–28 to the Bulldogs on Nov. 22, and thus got a taste of the brutal rivalry-loss/bowl-loss double whammy unlucky FBS fans know well. Welcome to the gridiron proletariat.
