The College Football Playoff committee ranked Ole Miss seventh when they last evaluated championship tournament candidates through 13 weeks of the 2025 season.
Since then, the Rebels traveled to Mississippi State and dominated their rivals by nearly three touchdowns. Trinidad Chambliss threw for 359 yards and four touchdowns. Kewan Lacy rushed for 143 yards and a score. The defense forced two turnovers.
That’s all that should matter for CFP committee deliberations regarding Ole Miss.
Coach Lane Kiffin’s decision to leave for LSU shouldn’t factor into playoff discussions. The only relevant topic would be the absurdity of a coach abandoning a title contender.
Committee Faces Key Decision
There’s been discussion about whether the committee could “punish” Ole Miss for the coaching change by dropping their seeding or excluding them entirely. But what committees can do isn’t always what they should do.
Of the teams ranked ahead of No. 7 Ole Miss last Tuesday, only No. 3 Texas A&M lost its scheduled game. Both teams now share identical records at 11-1 overall and 7-1 in SEC play. Both will watch No. 4 Georgia and No. 10 Alabama compete for the conference championship Saturday.
The committee must decide where to rank A&M after its loss to Texas. Only football accomplishments should matter in that evaluation.
Comparing SEC Contenders
Texas A&M and Ole Miss offer the most instructive comparison because they’re both one-loss SEC teams.
Texas A&M defeated No. 9 Notre Dame in non-conference play. But their only victory against an SEC team that finished at least .500 was Missouri (8-4, 4-4). The Aggies’ SEC opponents combined for a 12-44 league record.
Ole Miss beat No. 24 Tulane out of conference – a team that might reach the playoff as American Conference champion. The Rebels also defeated No. 8 Oklahoma in league play. Their SEC opponents posted a combined 15-41 league record.
So where A&M should land is debatable.
What’s not debatable is that football accomplishments should be the only consideration.
Learning From Past Mistakes
Committees have faced similar situations before. We can hope they’ve learned from their mistakes.
Two years ago, this same committee excluded undefeated Florida State from the four-team playoff. The Seminoles would make it now, because they beat Louisville for the ACC Championship even after quarterback Jordan Travis was injured. But the committee looked at their games against Florida and in the conference final and decided to be unimpressed.
That episode ranked among the biggest disgraces in college football history.
The Cincinnati Precedent
What happened with Cincinnati basketball in 2000 offers another cautionary tale. The Bearcats lost superstar Kenyon Martin to a broken leg in their first conference tournament game.
Cincinnati was 28-3 when that game ended. They were 10-1 on the road and 16-0 in Conference USA. They ranked first in the Ratings Percentage Index and had beaten No. 3 Iowa State, No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 24 North Carolina and No. 32 Gonzaga – none at home.
It was indisputably a No. 1 seed resume.
There was no way to know what they’d be without Martin, the unanimous national Player of the Year. So the committee guessed and made Cincinnati a No. 2 seed. Those administrators owed the Bearcats what they’d earned, but took it away because they could.
In the years since, several teams deliberately hid season-ending injuries to avoid getting the Cincinnati treatment.
Kiffin’s Public Spectacle
Ole Miss didn’t have that option with Kiffin. He made a very public spectacle of considering whether to leave for LSU, his decision to take the job, and his effort to criticize the Ole Miss administration for not allowing him to coach in the postseason after he’d chosen to leave.
It shouldn’t matter.
We know Kiffin’s gone. We know he was an effective playcaller whose creativity will be missed on the sideline, just as the Bearcats were sure to be less dangerous without Martin protecting the rim.
What We Can’t Know
We can’t know whether Ole Miss players will be inspired or dispirited by Kiffin’s departure. We can’t know if whoever takes over the playcalling will find weaknesses in opposing defensive schemes.
We only know what Ole Miss has been: According to the CFP committee, the sixth or seventh most qualified team to compete for the championship.
That’s what they should remain, no matter who left the building.
