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Ole Miss is among the few teams on the bubble that could snag one of the last spots in the 12-team College Football Playoff. If a bit more chaos took place during the final weekend of the regular season, the Rebels could be on the inside looking out, but everything points to the opposite reality heading into conference championship weekend after Ole Miss didn’t get as much help as it likely needed.
Many believe that one of Alabama, South Carolina, or Ole Miss will get the final spot in the CFB Playoff field. All three teams have three losses to their names, but Ole Miss and Alabama both beat South Carolina earlier this season. Recency bias could take effect and the Gamecocks could be given the nod, however, given their comeback win over a Top 15 Clemson team this past Saturday.
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin doesn’t agree with that scenario, or any other scenario that doesn’t include his Rebels getting a shot to play for a national title.
Kiffin jumped on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday afternoon and fired off a list of reasons why Ole Miss is the strongest candidate among the three teams, and even tagged the CFB Playoff in the post.
It’s hard to imagine the selection committee putting South Carolina ahead of not one, but two teams that beat them head-to-head earlier in the season. Ole Miss has the biggest advantage in the argument given that the Rebels dismantled the Gamecocks on the road by 24 points while Alabama beat them in Tuscaloosa by just two points.
Both Alabama and Ole Miss beat Georgia on their home fields, but the Rebels may get the nod there given they beat the Bulldogs by 18 points compared to just seven points from the Crimson Tide.
The ‘shiny objects’ on Ole Miss’ resume are certainly shiny – blowout wins against Georgia and on the road against South Carolina – but the team’s home loss to what turned out to be a 4-8 Kentucky is, without question, the worst loss among bubble teams.
If Ole Miss had beaten Kentucky back in September it’s almost a sure thing that they’re a Playoff team, but instead, it’s looking like the Rebels could end up being the first team left out of the tournament.