So you’re saying there’s a chance | At No. 14, Rebels’ hopes are still alive for College Football Playoffs
OXFORD, Miss. — After Ole Miss’ 24-17 loss to Florida Saturday, Rebel fans, across the board, were demoralized over the defeat and what looked to be the removal of any chance of Ole Miss making the College Football Playoffs’ Top 12 teams. But after a lot of craziness Saturday in other games, tonight’s rankings were released and head coach Lane Kiffin’s bunch still has life.
The CFP committee ranked the Rebels No. 14, a drop of five spots, tantalizingly close to inclusion in the playoffs. It’s worth noting the committee did not follow the AP and Coaches’ polls where the Rebels were ranked No.16 in each.
What has to happen?
First and foremost, the Rebels obviously have to beat Mississippi State in Friday’s Egg Bowl, and they need to do so in convincing fashion. Simply put, they need to curb-stomp head coach Jeff Lebby’s team. A last-second win or a close game won’t be good enough. Jaxson Dart and the gang need to score early and often. The defense needs to hold the 0-7 (SEC) Bulldogs to as few points as possible.
Next, they need some SEC teams (here’s looking at you Alabama, Tennessee and A&M) to lose this weekend….here’s what Peter Burns had to say about a three-loss Ole Miss team.
“I would have Ole Miss at the top of my list.”
@PeterBurnsESPN makes the case to @ChrisDoering for @OleMissFB to be the 3-loss SEC team in the CFP!
#HottyToddy | #SECThisMorning pic.twitter.com/ZLcJXTr824— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) November 26, 2024
Alabama is ranked at No. 13, one spot above the Rebels, after losing in horrific fashion to Oklahoma last weekend — the same Sooners Ole Miss beat handily. South Carolina is ranked at No.15, one spot below a Rebels team who beat the Gamecocks easily in Columbia by 24 points.
CFP Committee Chair Warde Manuel was asked Tuesday night after the rankings release why a three-loss Alabama team is ahead of all other three-loss teams, including Ole Miss team?
“Because of their win over Georgia. They won against Missouri. They’ve beat South Carolina and they won at LSU in dominant fashion. When you put those four wins against Mississippi and what they did, they had the win against Georgia and the win at South Carolina, but they had a tough loss to Florida, lost to LSU in overtime. So when we compared resumes, that’s how we saw it in terms of the difference between Alabama and Mississippi.”
CFP Chair Warde Manuel
My question would be what about Alabama’s loss to Oklahoma? That was a beat-down by the Sooners, a ‘bad loss,’ if you will, while the Rebels handled Oklahoma easily.
Manuel was also asked how he would compare the resumes of Alabama and Ole Miss at No. 13 and 14, respectively.
“Yeah, they’re really — I would say, in the committee’s eyes, they are really similar teams, and they’ve had similar ways that they’ve gone through the season. Both have had losses that you didn’t expect them to have. Alabama had a loss at Oklahoma, and Oklahoma’s performance was dominant against Alabama, and then you have the loss by Mississippi to Florida at Florida. It was one of those losses that you just don’t expect them to have. It was a close game, but where we evaluated it, we came out with Alabama ahead of Mississippi and South Carolina since Alabama and Mississippi both won head to head against South Carolina.”
Warde Manuel on Ole Miss, Alabama and South Carolina
So, as it stands now, Ole Miss, after the five conference champions get their spots in the playoffs, would be the third team out of the playoffs, behind the Tide and Clemson.
Rebel fans need to keep an eye on some of the games this coming weekend that could affect Ole Miss’ hopes — and pull for another weekend of chaos.
No. 7 Georgia plays a 7-4 Georgia Tech team that is perfectly capable of beating the Bulldogs. QB Haynes King, a transfer from A&M, has been a dynamic addition for the Yellow Jackets. If Georgia Tech beats Georgia, would the Bulldogs drop out of the Top 12 — especially since they have already clinched the SEC Title game? That would remain to be seen.
Rebels need an upset in the Iron Bowl, so root for Hugh Freeze’s Tigers to beat Alabama since the Crimson Tide is one spot ahead of Ole Miss (in spite of their bad loss to OU).
Pull for Texas to beat A&M, as a Longhorns win would give the No. 20 Aggies their third loss and knock them out of the playoffs, especially after their 4 OT loss to Auburn last weekend. A win over Texas, however, would move A&M up dramatically in the rankings and put them in the SEC title game against Georgia.
The Rebels also need to pull for Vanderbilt to beat No.8 Tennessee. The Commodores will need a lot of luck in that one, but the game is in Nashville, so that’s good news.
A lot of folks are trying to figure out for whom they should root in the South Carolina vs. No. 12 Clemson game. The Gamecocks, you can bet, believe they should jump into the top 12 if they beat the Tigers; however, Rebels would argue their dominating head-to-head win over South Carolina should preclude that from happening. If Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks lose, that would be their fourth loss and that would end their hopes. A loss by Clemson would drop them out of contention, but a win could move them up higher from their current spot.
All that given, by virtue of Ole Miss coming in at No. 14, there is still a chance for the team to make the playoffs. But, again, it starts with beating the pants off State. Head coach Lane Kiffin was asked Monday — before the release of tonight’s CFP rankings — if he talks to his team about the playoffs and rankings.
“Well, I mean, it’s a new age now. As you guys have asked before, I usually don’t ever speak about those things to the team because (we have to take it) one week at a time. But I did a few weeks ago say, ‘hey, if that’s what motivates you and gets you to prepare better and stuff…’ I have talked about that before with them. I would have thought after the (Florida) game that (we were) out, but then when so many different things happened (last Saturday) and with us being the early game and the percentages now saying that’s alive, I did tell them that. But I think there should be so much motivation to keep the Egg Bowl Trophy here and win this game and play really well. But if that’s added and helps them to know that playoffs are still alive and that they get kind of the first shot to show everybody on a national stage, as opposed to a Saturday game where these people that make these decisions don’t necessarily see all the games because there’s so many going on. You got a shot to show everybody.”
Here is this week’s complete College Football Playoffs Top 25
- Oregon (11-0)
- Ohio State (10-1)
- Texas (10-1)
- Penn State (10-1)
- Notre Dame (10-1)
- Miami (10-1)
- Georgia (9-2)
- Tennessee (9-2)
- SMU (10-1)
- Indiana (10-1)
- Boise State (10-1)
- Clemson (9-2)
- Alabama (8-3)
- Ole Miss (8-3)
- South Carolina (8-3)
- Arizona State (9-2)
- Tulane (9-2)
- Iowa State (9-2)
- BYU (9-2)
- Texas A&M (8-3)
- Missouri (8-3)
- UNLV (9-2)
- Illinois (8-3)
- Kansas State (8-3)
- Colorado (8-3)
Ole Miss and State kick off Friday at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ABC. It all starts there, Rebels!
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
