Ole Miss made history Sunday with its inclusion in the College Football Playoff bracket, making for the first time in the modern era the Rebels will compete for a national title.
Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1 SEC) landed at No. 6 in the final CFP rankings and will host a first-round game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford against No. 20 Tulane (11-2, 7-1 American) on Saturday, Dec. 20, at 2:30 p.m. CT. The Rebels will be the 12-team playoff’s No. 6 seed while the Green Wave is the No. 11 seed after getting an automatic bid as the committee’s fourth-highest ranked conference champion.
The full field, in order of seeding, is Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas Tech, Oregon, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Alabama, Miami, Tulane, and James Madison. The top four seeds receive first-round byes. The winner of Ole Miss-Tulane will play in the quarterfinal Sugar Bowl against Georgia – the Bulldogs being the Rebels’ lone loss of the regular season.
Ole Miss is now under the leadership of Pete Golding, the team’s defensive coordinator who was promoted to head coach following Lane Kiffin’s unprecedented departure for LSU a week ago. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., although he’s seemingly committed to coaching under Kiffin next year, will maintain playcalling duties during the playoff.
The Rebels have been led on offense by Division II transfer quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, who’s tossed for 3,016 yards with 24 total touchdowns. Running back Kewan Lacy is now the program’s single-season recordholder with 20 rushing touchdowns. On defense, linebacker TJ Dottery leads with 77 total tackles and safety Wydett Williams Jr. with three interceptions.
All of the aforementioned players plus the rest of a star-studded cast that includes wideout Harrison Wallace III (719 yards, 3 touchdowns), linebacker Suntarine Perkins (64 tackles), and defensive end Princewill Umanmielen (6.5 sacks) will look to lead Ole Miss to the next chapter of a historic season – winning the program’s first playoff game.
Based on recent history, the Rebels received a favorable draw to do just that. They played Tulane earlier in the season, winning 45-10. A storyline to watch, though, is that Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall – who recently inked a deal to become the next head coach at Florida – is being allowed to stay on throughout the playoff.