Some things in this world are factual, and playing in the Southeastern Conference prepares you for the postseason, is one of those factual truths that has withstood the test of time. Head Coach Lane Kiffin and his Ole Miss Rebels are in Atlanta for the 2023 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, where the Rebels will face a Big Ten adversary in Penn State. Ole Miss arrived in Atlanta on Monday evening, with Coach Kiffin scheduled to meet with the press on Tuesday to address the bowl preparations for the Rebels ahead of the matchup on Saturday morning.

In the media press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Coach Kiffin talked about playing in the Southeastern Conference and how his team is ready to play with anybody in the country, including Penn State, on Saturday morning.

Coach Kiffin had this to say to Mitch Davis about being battle-tested and prepared for the postseason matchup with Penn State.

” Well, I just think it’s so balanced, and there’s so much elite talent. So that’s not disrespecting any other conference. I think that we’re in analytics and stats and proof of things, and I think the draft shows that by the number of SEC players drafted over the years compared to other conferences.

You play such elite players, really elite coaches — not just head coaches, but coordinators — and you play in hard environments. Almost all the environments are sold out, very difficult environments to play in. I don’t think any other conference has all those things from top to bottom.”

Despite losing to Georgia and Alabama this season, this 2023 Ole Miss Football team has everything they need to be successful over Penn State on Saturday morning. Coach Kiffin had a point when he said playing in the Southeastern Conference prepares you for anything as the talent gap, the environment, and the product on the field are different down south. Going 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference is more challenging to do when you’re playing LSU, Texas A&M, Alabama, Auburn, and others each week than Penn State going 6-2 in the Big Ten, where the best teams they’ll face are Ohio State and Michigan. When Ole Miss lost to Georgia in early November, the Rebels got better, continuing on the trek to greatness with another bid to a New Year Six Bowl game for the second time in three years under Head Coach Lane Kiffin.

Take it from Head Coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions, who has a winning record over teams from the Big Ten but has two lone wins over teams from the Southeastern Conference. Both wins were over depleted Auburn teams in the midst of two of the worst seasons in school history. Since leaving Vanderbilt for the Big Ten, Coach Franklin has had to learn the harsh realities of facing the Southeastern Conference without the caliber of player needed to compete in the Southeastern Conference.

Unless the oddsmakers in Las Vegas know something the knowledgeable football fan doesn’t, Ole Miss should return to Oxford with a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory in hand to continue the momentum into the 2024 Ole Miss Football season. Penn State has a good defense; there’s no way around that, but Ole Miss has the intangibles needed to compete and win on the biggest stages in college football. What Ole Miss has that Penn State hasn’t seen this season is an offense that scores quickly and gasses the defense early on to create advantages as the game progresses.