The College Football Playoff selection committee didn’t penalize Ole Miss because of former coach Lane Kiffin’s stunning departure to LSU in its penultimate rankings Tuesday.
In fact, the committee moved the Rebels up one spot to sixth in the rankings after their 38-19 victory at rival Mississippi State in last week’s Egg Bowl.
Ole Miss officials were concerned that the selection committee might ding them after Kiffin departed for their SEC rival on Sunday, potentially putting their chances of hosting a CFP first-round game later this month in jeopardy.
“Obviously, our team is still intact,” Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter told ESPN on Tuesday. “Our players are fired up and ready to go. We’ve got a great staff that’s ready to roll throughout the playoff run.”
Unbeaten Ohio State and Indiana remain the top two teams, followed by No. 3 Georgia, No. 4 Texas Tech and No. 5 Oregon. The Bulldogs, Red Raiders and Ducks each moved up one spot after previously unbeaten Texas A&M lost 27-17 at Texas last week.
Texas A&M fell four spots after suffering its first loss of the season, one spot behind Ole Miss, and was followed by Oklahoma, Alabama and Notre Dame to round out the top 10. BYU was 11th, and Miami was 12th.
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“I will tell you that the debate between Alabama and Notre Dame the past three weeks has been one of the strongest debates we’ve had in the room for the past two years that I’ve been a member of the committee,” CFP selection committee chair Hunter Yurachek, the athletic director at Arkansas, said on ESPN’s rankings release show on Tuesday night. “Notre Dame went on the road, had a strong win at Stanford. But Alabama went on the road, in a rivalry game, and looked really good, especially in the first half.”
As it stands, Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia and Texas Tech would receive first-round byes under the current rankings. And the first-round games would look like this: Tulane at Oregon; Virginia at Ole Miss; Notre Dame at Texas A&M; and Alabama at Oklahoma.
The Cougars and the Hurricanes would be bumped out of the field if Tuesday’s rankings were used for the 12-team playoff bracket. No. 17 Virginia would replace BYU as the projected ACC champion, and No. 20 Tulane would replace Miami as the highest-ranked champion of a non-power four conference.
The final CFP rankings will be announced Sunday.
“We will evaluate the results of the championship games after they are all completed,” Yurachek said.
How the selection committee would handle the Rebels was one of the most pressing questions concerning this week’s rankings. Ole Miss won 11 games in the regular season for the first time in school history, and its only loss came Oct. 18 at Georgia. The Rebels have won five straight since then.
“I think these guys should be judged by what they’ve done on the field, and 11-1, I think it speaks for itself,” Carter said. “I would hope that the committee kind of looks at the information they have and rewards these young men for an incredible season.”
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Kiffin left Ole Miss before finishing his sixth season with the Rebels, signing a seven-year contract with LSU that will make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the FBS. He took a handful of assistant coaches with him to Baton Rouge on Sunday.
On Tuesday, LSU announced that new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. — Ole Miss’ primary playcaller this season — would be allowed to return to the Rebels for the CFP.
“I’ve already made the committee aware of this and I’m hopeful this decision will allow Ole Miss to receive the highest ranking possible because these great players are very deserving of that,” Kiffin said in a statement. “I’m excited that Charlie will be back to help coach the greatest team in the history of Ole Miss.”
Texas moved up three spots to No. 13 after its upset of the Aggies, followed by Vanderbilt and Utah. USC was No. 16 and Virginia, Arizona, Michigan and Tulane completed the top 20. Houston, Georgia Tech, Iowa, North Texas and James Madison were ranked Nos. 21 to 25.
Houston, the Hawkeyes, the Green Machine and the Dukes were new additions to the rankings. And Tennessee, Arizona State, SMU and Pittsburgh fell out of the rankings after losing last week.
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With both Tulane and North Texas ranked from the American Athletic Conference, and with James Madison included from the Sun Belt Conference, there’s a chance that two champions from the Group of Five leagues could get bids into the 12-team playoff for the first time if five-loss Duke upsets Virginia in Saturday’s ACC championship game. North Texas plays at Tulane in Friday’s AAC championship game; Troy plays at James Madison in the Sun Belt title game, also on Friday.
Miami is the highest-ranked team from the ACC, but the Hurricanes didn’t qualify for the league’s title game.
Notre Dame lost at Miami 27-24 in the Aug. 31 opener, but the Fighting Irish remain two spots in front of the Hurricanes, even though the teams have identical 10-2 records. Both teams have completed their regular season.
“Idle teams can move following the results of the championship games,” Yurachek said with specific regard to Miami and Notre Dame. “Teams that are idle can move up or down.”
