Ole Miss is taking preemptive measures ahead of the most highly anticipated regular-season college football game of the season.
This Saturday, the eighth-ranked Rebels host the No. 7 LSU Tigers in Lane Kiffin’s first game back in Mississippi since he left the school to head to Baton Rouge.
Kiffin’s departure was highly controversial as his dalliance with LSU led to him departing Oxford before the Rebels took part in their College Football Playoff game.
Saturday’s contest is primed to be one of the most vitriolic games in the history of the ‘Magnolia Bowl’ rivalry and has led school administrators to take early action.
On Thursday, the school announced that the purple and gold colors of LSU would be banned from a specific part of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
‘Effective immediately, no person wearing an opposing team’s gear or colors will be allowed entrance into the student section,’ read a statement sent to students.
‘Additionally, anyone found to be wearing opposing team apparel or colors in the student section will be removed.’
Fans will not be allowed to wear LSU colors into the Ole Miss student section this Saturday
Saturday marks the return of LSU coach Lane Kiffin months after he abandoned Ole Miss
The matchup is set to be the most highly anticipated game of the 2026 college football season
The school is also constructing a fence around the area where the visiting team buses are arriving at the stadium on game day, according to On3.
Both measures came after Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry joked that extraordinary precautions could be taken to protect Kiffin and the Tigers.
‘I’m thinking about having to send him in on an F-16 and maybe the team on a C-130,’ Landry told ESPN’s Mark Schlabach.
‘Security is going to be really tight. You know, we might need the National Guard out there to protect our team. I think it’s going to be an interesting weekend.’
In addition to the measures from the school, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety announced that ‘an advanced law enforcement presence’ would be in Oxford for the game – including the largest deployment of the Mississippi Highway Patrol ever used for a college football game.
‘This weekend will bring a significant number of visitors to Oxford, and our priority is making sure everyone can enjoy the game and surrounding events safely,’ MDPS commissioner Sean Tindell said in a statement. ‘This enhanced presence is about being prepared, staying proactive, and working together.’
Tensions over this game have been simmering for months. During an Ole Miss-LSU baseball game last April, Mississippi students confronted an LSU fan – with punches being thrown.
