Lane Kiffin says 'Roll Tide' when asked to pick Rose Bowl winner

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is preparing for today’s Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl against Penn State, hoping to hit the milestone of 11 wins this season.

Ahead of that matchup, Kiffin joined ESPN’s College GameDay to discuss the meeting. He also got to discuss a little bit more than he bargained for.

Just before Kiffin was set to sign off, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit asked Kiffin what he thought was going to happen in the Rose Bowl and who he thought would win between Alabama and Michigan.

“Well I wasn’t ready for that question,” Lane Kiffin said. “I mean those are two great teams, two great coaches, but I mean, c’mon Herbstreit. That’s a setup.”

Then, as if ignoring his own warning about the setup, Kiffin dropped one more telling line.

“Roll Tide!” Kiffin said.

The Ole Miss coach, of course, spent three years coaching at Alabama under Nick Saban, really revitalizing his career there. He credits Saban with helping him grow as a coach, eventually getting another opportunity to be a head coach.

Now Lane Kiffin is in position to do something truly special.

A win in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl would get the Rebels to 11 wins on the season. That has never happened in the 129-year history of the Ole Miss football program.

So regardless whether Kiffin has put much thought into the eventual Rose Bowl winner, he’s likely spent plenty of time thinking about being the Peach Bowl winner.

Penn State will have several key opt-outs in the game, but Kiffin wasn’t letting that cause him to focus any less.

“Well I don’t think they’re missing that many pieces,” Lane Kiffin said. “I see some really good-looking guys down there in warmups. So our guys are very motivated. I think a key to the game whenever you’ve had long layoffs like this is taking care of the ball and coming out really fast after not playing for a while. And tackling really well.”

The Peach Bowl is slated to begin at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday with a national broadcast on ESPN.