The Ole Miss football team’s chances of vying for a national title in the postseason got a lot stronger on Tuesday night.
Coming in at No. 9 in the latest College Football Playoff poll is Lane Kiffin’s crew — one that has arguably been the hottest team in the sport over the past few weeks. While the Rebels enjoyed a bye this past Saturday, a lot of action on the gridiron helped bolster Ole Miss into a higher position than its previous ranking.
Last week, Kiffin and company enjoyed a surge in the top 25 following a historic win over then-No.3 Georgia. Over the weekend, that Georgia team defeated a Tennessee squad previously ranked ahead of the Rebels, sparking heated debates centered around the Volunteers’ résumé compared to the Rebels’.
Both squads have faced four common opponents — Arkansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Georgia. Ole Miss boasts a 3-1 record against those teams, with an ugly loss against the Wildcats blemishing its record. Tennessee, on the other hand, is 2-2 in that slate.
Another aspect of the debate focused on which team has the better win overall at this point in the season. Tennessee’s 24-17 victory over Alabama may be more appealing than Ole Miss’ 27-3 over South Carolina, but the Rebels’ dominant outing over Georgia ultimately prompted the committee to rank Kiffin’s crew ahead of both the Bulldogs and Volunteers.
A previously undefeated BYU falling at home to a four-win Kansas team also played a part in Ole Miss’ jump in the most important poll in college football.
November 1️⃣9️⃣ #CFBPlayoff Selection Committee Rankings 🏈🏆
9️⃣. Mississippi // @OleMissFB pic.twitter.com/YWUKCpxEy4
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) November 20, 2024
Following Ole Miss’ second loss of the season, a 29-26 defeat at LSU, the team knew it had no room for error going forward. In its next contest, Ole Miss fans booed the team as the Rebels headed into the locker room trailing against unranked Oklahoma 14-10 at the midway intermission. It is not documented what all was said at halftime, but Kiffin’s group came out with a passion not seen all year.
From then on out, Ole Miss and its cornucopia of veteran talent, despite the absence of star wideout Tre Harris, went on to bludgeon each of its opponents, playing with a major chip on its collective shoulder.
“You see it, but for us, every game has been a playoff game for us since that loss against LSU… if we lose, we’re not in playoff contention, so knowing that we have to win, you can see that as far as how well we’re playing,” Ole Miss wide receiver Jordan Watkins said.
If the playoff were held today, the Rebels would travel to Bloomington and face off against undefeated Indiana in the first round.
Nonetheless, before Ole Miss can even consider getting comfortable with its current placement in the polls, the Rebels must round out its final two regular season contests. On deck is a Saturday morning matchup at Florida before Mississippi State comes to Oxford for the annual Egg Bowl.
The full top 25 can be found below:
- Oregon
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Penn State
- Indiana
- Notre Dame
- Alabama
- Miami
- Ole Miss
- Georgia
- Tennessee
- Boise State
- SMU
- BYU
- Texas A&M
- Colorado
- Clemson
- South Carolina
- Army
- Tulane
- Arizona State
- Iowa State
- Missouri
- UNLV
- Illinois