On the Same Page: Paul Finebaum Echoes Lane Kiffin’s Sentiments When it Comes to CFP Rankings of Rebels and Gamecocks
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin and SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum are rarely on the same page, to say the very least, but the two do agree on one thing — when the College Football Playoff rankings are released tonight, there is no reasonable way South Carolina should jump Ole Miss.
Last week, Ole Miss was No. 14, wile the Gamecocks were one spot behind at No. 15.
On his weekly Sunday zoom with local media, Coach Kiffin was asked about the possibility of Shane Beamer’s South Carolina squad jumping Ole Miss. Needless to say, he was quite vehement in his opposition to such a thing occurring.
“First off, I have great respect for South Carolina,” Coach Kiffin began. “I think they’re a really, really good team. Well coached, really good players,” he continued.
“But when you just said South Carolina jumping us — why do we even play games? If South Carolina were to jump us, and we play in the same conference with a very similar schedule, but the same record. Normally you would say ‘what would happen if they played each other?’ Well, we did. We went to their place and ran them out of their place. I mean it was a 24-point SEC road win and we’re just handing the ball off in the fourth quarter to get out of there.”
Lane Kiffin
The two teams share the same 9-3 overall (5-3 SEC) records; however, the Rebels traveled to Columbia on October 5 and beat the Gamecocks 27-3 and could have, if you listen to what Coach Kiffin said recently, outscored them by an even larger margin.
“That should not even be a — if the committee is even thinking about that, then what do you play the games for? Because that’s what everybody always says ‘what if this team played (this team), then how would they do?’ That’s the hard thing in comparing these different conferences. Well, we did at their place and it wasn’t even close. We could still be playing the game and they still might not have scored a touchdown.“
Lane Kiffin
South Carolina only managed a field goal, that coming in the second quarter, against the Ole Miss defense.
So why is there any talk of the Gamecocks jumping Ole Miss? It’s sort of the ‘what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?’ scenario. Although South Carolina lost to both Ole Miss and Alabama, back-to-back, the Gamecocks finished the regular season with six straight wins (at Oklahoma, vs. Texas A&M, at Vanderbilt, vs. Missouri, vs. Wofford, and at No. 12 Clemson), making them one of the hottest late-season teams and providing talking points to those who feel they should be ranked higher.
Paul Finebaum made his thoughts known yesterday as he said the following in response to a caller.
“Going into last week, I was on that South Carolina train until I started thinking about that one factor and I don’t think you can get past that. The Alabama win over South Carolina is not as significant, it was a two-point game. Ole Miss — with the same record and with a win over Georgia — I don’t think you can rank South Carolina ahead of them.”
Paul Finebaum
Wowww, Pawl for the win
defending Ole Miss
🔴🔵HottyToddy🦈🐕🦈
Thanks Keith pic.twitter.com/Dihk14Kji7— Tom (@tlp39766) December 2, 2024
Coach Kiffin has been lobbying for his Rebels this week on social media, posting a number of tweets, including the following, in favor of Ole Miss staying ranked ahead of South Carolina.
@CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/hTNmsbBLVf
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) December 2, 2024
Next rankings released tonight
The College Football Playoff Committee rankings for this week will be released tonight at 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN. Conference championship games will be played this Saturday, and the final rankings and selection day will commence on Sunday, December 8 at 11:00 a.m. CT.
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.
