When it comes to defending home turf, Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss don’t mess around.

The Rebels have elevated to a top 10 program and have gone 15-2 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. over the last three seasons.

But despite that, as the Rebels welcome in Kentucky on Saturday for its SEC opener, Kentucky radio host Matt Jones has called Vaught-Hemingway Stadium "not a hard place to play at." He clarified his original comments from Tuesday during a radio show on Wednesday.

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"Now, you may remember yesterday I made a very simple statement. I don't even think it was a controversial statement. I just said, 'Ole Miss is not the hardest place to play.' That is not a controversial statement," Jones said on his show Wednesday. "Dear Ole Miss fans, I'm going to look in the camera. Kentucky's not the hardest place to play in the SEC. Would you even put Kentucky in the top eight in the SEC of hardest places to play? I wouldn't," Jones said.

"I would argue Kentucky's environment is very similar to Ole Miss' environment, but nobody comes to a Kentucky game and goes, 'Now that's a hard place to play.' And here's the secret Ole Miss fans. Nobody goes to your place and says, 'That's a hard place to play.'"

Since Kiffin took over in 2020, Ole Miss has gone 24-5 in home games at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, something Jones acknowledged. However, he said Vaught-Hemingway Stadium is not comparable to other SEC stadiums, particularly at night, like LSU's Tiger Stadium, Alabama's Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium, Georgia's Sanford Stadium or Tennessee's Neyland Stadium.

Jones' main point here was that Saturday's game is slated for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff in Oxford. As noted by the Clarion Ledger, Saturday's game is sold out, as has every home game thus far this season.

"Ole Miss is really good, but if you were talking about Kentucky basketball and you said to me, 'Okay, is Rupp Arena harder than the other environments at noon against the basketball equivalent of what we are in football?' I would say, 'No, not really,'" Jones said. " Now if it's seven o'clock and Kansas is coming into town, well that's a different situation."

Jones would end by saying he hopes Ole Miss fans show up on Saturday and proves him wrong.

"I was there two years ago. At times, was it loud? Sure. But go to a Tennessee game, you can't hear yourself think and it's not like that. They're good, but it's not because of Vault-Hemingway Stadium," Jones said. "It's not something crazy special. And I hope they do show up. I hope they show up and come out and it's loud. And you know what after 15 minutes, that won't matter because the game starts at 11:00 a.m."

He added: "When I go in that stadium, I guarantee you I'm not going to get chills and think I'm Yankee Stadium, Game Seven of the World Series. I'm going to be like, 'I'm at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, this is nice.'"

EA Sports 'College Football 25' toughest stadiums to play

Neither Ole Miss nor Kentucky came in the top 25 of the toughest places to play in the country on EA Sports' "College Football 25," and neither found a way into the top 25 when EA Sports updated the list prior to the college football season.

Here's a look at the original "College Football 25" rankings for the toughest places to play in the country:

1. Kyle Field, Texas A&M

2. Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama

3. Tiger Stadium, LSU

4. Ohio Stadium, Ohio State

5. Sanford Stadium, Georgia

6. Beaver Stadium, Penn State

7. Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin

8. Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Oklahoma

9. Doak S. Campbell Stadium, Florida State

10. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida

11. Autzen Stadium, Oregon

12. Memorial Stadium, Clemson

13. Neyland Stadium, Tennessee

14. Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn

15. Williams-Brice Stadium, South Carolina

16. Michigan Stadium, Michigan

17. Lane Stadium, Virginia Tech

18. Rice-Eccles Stadium, Utah

19. Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Texas

20. Kinnick Stadium, Iowa

21. Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame

22. Spartan Stadium, Michigan State

23. Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Arkansas

24. Albertsons Stadium

25. Davis Wade Stadium, Mississippi State

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Ole Miss is not a hard place to play according to radio host