Lane Kiffin oddly voices support for Penn State in College Football Playoff quarterfinal vs. Boise State

As the Fiesta Bowl kicked off Tuesday night, Penn State had an interesting fan in its corner. Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin voiced his support for the Nittany Lions against Boise State in a social media post.

Kiffin reposted the Penn State Football X account’s kickoff post, indicating he was cheering for the Nittany Lions in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal. He later added the hashtag #WeAre in a thread as he took a side in the matchup.

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Kiffin and Ole Miss missed out on the College Football Playoff this year, and he has made his thoughts clear on the committee’s decision. However, he’s apparently rooting on Penn State to make the semifinals after a dominant first-round win over SMU last time out.

LFG PSU!!!! https://t.co/VrHQPZsBFq

— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) January 1, 2025

Kiffin called out the College Football Playoff committee multiple times during the first round. He notably did so during Penn State’s resounding victory against SMU, which marked the second straight blowout to start the opening games of the bracket.

“Way to keep us on the edge of our seats Committee …. Riveting,” Kiffin wrote on X (formerly Twitter) during the game.

That post came after Indiana’s blowout loss to Notre Dame in a standalone Friday night game, which drew a strong response from Kiffin. Indiana’s strength of schedule became a major talking point in the lead-up to the final College Football Playoff rankings.

The Hoosiers’ regular-season slate ranked No. 67 in the country, according to ESPN’s FPI, which was the second-weakest of the 12-team bracket. Only Boise State had an easier schedule at No. 80.

That led to a conversation about whether IU deserved to be in over some three-loss SEC teams. Ole Miss, Alabama and South Carolina were among the first teams out of the field despite having higher strength of schedule during the regular season – ranking No. 33, 18 and 13, respectively, according to ESPN.

Lane Kiffin made his thoughts clear about what he thought the committee should do. He also pointed out the difference of playing in the SEC and playing in other conferences.

“I think that this is what you’re probably going to have to get used to as fans, teams having multiple losses in this conference,” Kiffin said, via Michael Katz on X. “… It’s why it’s just different, it’s just totally different, and these comparisons of other conferences and the ACC and the Big 12.

“You might as well be in different leagues. Not conferences, different leagues. Like, here’s the NFL, here’s the SEC, here’s those few Big Ten teams and then here’s everybody else.”