Lane Kiffin has first-hand perspective on the upcoming Alabama-Florida Southeastern Conference Championship game.
Kiffin's Ole Miss team, in his first season atop the Rebels' program, opened with Florida at home in Oxford, Mississippi, and two weeks later hosted Alabama in Kiffin's first meeting against his former boss, Nick Saban.
The Rebels scored a combined 83 points; they still lost by a combined 31 points. The top-ranked Tide will face the No. 6 Gators Dec. 19 at Mercedes Stadium in Atlanta.
Kiffin on Wednesday's SEC coaches' teleconferenced offered his thoughts about the matchup – and brought up a funny old memory of a previous Alabama-Florida SEC title clash that was a rematch between Nick Saban's Alabama squad and Urban Meyer's Tim Tebow-led Gators squad.
“I guess we're probably on like an 11- or 12-year anniversary and I remember this game when I was at Tennessee and did College GameDay and picked the game,” Kiffin said of the 2009 SEC Championship. “I think Coach Meyer got mad at me because I picked Alabama.
“I said Florida had better players and Alabama had better coaches. I don't say that stuff anymore.”
Kiffin didn't make a pick, but he said he has yet to see anyone slow down the high-scoring Crimson Tide offense.
“Two great teams, two quarterbacks (Alabama's Mac Jones, Florida's Kyle Trask) playing at an elite level,” Kiffin said. “I think it's going to be a really good game. Alabama's so hot right now, even with losing a really good receiver, nobody can stop them. Be a great game.”