The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff will not feature No. 13 Ole Miss, barring unforeseen circumstances between now and Sunday.
Ahead of the 2024-25 season, Ole Miss players, coaches, and fans joined in unison deeming this campaign “The Last Dance” with the return of key veterans and an incoming group of talented transfers. A collective effort on all fronts culminated in arguably the most talented Rebel football team ever taking the field this season.
Lane Kiffin and company survived a couple of early bumps in the road — losses to Kentucky and LSU — and remained in the good graces of the playoff selection committee, especially after a double-digit victory over then-No. 3 Georgia in November. Just two weeks ago, the Rebels were ranked No. 9 nationally and had a playoff spot locked up under the stipulation that the team took care of its two final opponents.
A 24-17 shortcoming in Gainesville to a Florida team that ended its regular season on a hot streak, despite a rocky start, was a major roadblock in Ole Miss’ chances to vie for a national championship. The Rebels walked away an Egg Bowl victor over bitter foe Mississippi State, but not enough fortune was available for Ole Miss in other rivalry matchups this past weekend to catapult Kiffin’s club ahead of others on the fringe of a final available playoff spot.
The committee was tasked with observing a trio of three-loss SEC programs: Ole Miss, Alabama, and South Carolina. Last week, the Crimson Tide were ranked higher than its two conference counterparts and that remained the case on Tuesday night. After mounting a 28-14 win over Auburn in the Iron Bowl, the committee had seen enough to move Kalen DeBoer’s team up to the No. 11 spot.
Sliding into the No. 12 ranking is two-loss Miami, which just suffered a devastating loss at Syracuse this past Saturday. This left the committee with a choice to bump red-hot South Carolina over Ole Miss, or honor the 27-3 dominance displayed by the Rebels against the Gamecocks in Columbia earlier this season.
“I have great respect for South Carolina,” Kiffin said when asked about potentially being leapfrogged by Shane Beamer’s club. “South Carolina jumping us? Why do we even play the games? We have the same record in the same conference. We went to their place and ran them out of their place.”
Kiffin later joked that the matchup between Ole Miss and South Carolina could still be taking place without the Gamecocks scoring on the Rebels’ defense, and the committee appears to have listened.
The Rebel frontman also took to social media to do a little politicking, despite saying he would do no such thing after the Egg Bowl win, advocating for his talented squad to be among the 12-team pool fighting to hoist a national championship trophy.
#SpotTheBall @CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/iEdBnP0g1E
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) December 3, 2024
Ole Miss will officially know its fate on Selection Sunday, but the odds are not in favor of the Rebels landing a low seed in the playoff. Nonetheless, the team is bowl-eligible, so fans are guaranteed one more opportunity to watch this team suit up this year, though multiple top contributors will likely opt out of the contest as is customary in the current college football landscape.
For now, the top 25 can be found below:
- Oregon
- Texas
- Penn State
- Notre Dame
- Georgia
- Ohio State
- Tennessee
- SMU
- Indiana
- Boise State
- Alabama
- Miami
- Ole Miss
- South Carolina
- Arizona State
- Iowa State
- Clemson
- BYU
- Missouri
- UNLV
- Illinois
- Syracuse
- Colorado
- Army
- Memphis