Lane Kiffin passes on Sugar Bowl, attends LSU women’s basketball
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Kentucky hits dramatic shot to hand LSU 1st loss (0:23)
Tonie Morgan hits a clutch 3-pointer to lift Kentucky to the 80-78 upset of undefeated LSU. (0:23)
Associated Press
Jan 1, 2026, 09:36 PM ET
BATON ROUGE, La. — New LSU football coach Lane Kiffin attended the No. 5 Tigers‘ women’s basketball game Thursday night as his former team, Ole Miss, was taking on Georgia in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at the Sugar Bowl.
Kiffin and women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey emerged from the tunnel at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center holding hands before the Tigers lost to No. 11 Kentucky at the buzzer, 80-78.
Kiffin and Mulkey’s appearance on the court drew a roar from the crowd, and Mulkey raised her left hand to point at Kiffin while the pair responded by raising their joined hands in the air.
Kiffin’s appearance at the LSU game came at just about the same time as Ole Miss was kicking off its CFP game.
“He was very gracious to come over here and let the LSU fans acknowledge him,” Mulkey said. “They have the (transfer) portal opening tomorrow, so I know he’s working. I appreciated him coming.”
Kiffin, after accepting the head coaching job at LSU, said that he wanted to lead the Rebels through the CFP. Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter, however, denied his request “despite the team also asking him to allow me to keep coaching them so they could better maintain their high level of performance,” Kiffin said in a social media post.
Kiffin’s annual salary at Ole Miss was $9 million. LSU offered Kiffin a seven-year contract with an average annual salary of approximately $13 million and pledged to ensure the football program has sufficient financial backing to pay players.
Kiffin is taking over for Brian Kelly, who was fired midseason after a loss to No. 3 Texas A&M dropped the Tigers to 5-3 overall.
Kelly went 34-14 with the Tigers, even getting to the 2022 SEC title game, but LSU did not qualify for the CFP in his three seasons.
