As the shockwaves from LSU’s aggressive pursuit of Lane Kiffin rolled across college football, many wondered how the shakeup might affect Ole Miss’ College Football Playoff hopes. Yet when the latest CFP rankings were released Tuesday night, the Rebels didn’t fall, they actually climbed to No. 6.
CFP committee chair Hunter Yurachek spoke to the reporters and acknowledged that the uncertainty around Kiffin’s departure was discussed inside the room.
To illustrate why Ole Miss wasn’t penalized, Yurachek brought up a now-famous case — Florida State’s exclusion from the 2023 four-team CFP after quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury. That year, the committee had multiple games of film without Travis to evaluate. This year, no such comparative data exists for Ole Miss without Kiffin.
“I wasn’t a member of the committee a couple years ago,” said Yurachek (h/t On3). “But it’s been referenced in the room that the Florida State instance, where they lost their quarterback, there were a couple of games that the committee had to evaluate where Florida State did not have their starting quarterback that they had for the majority of the season. We don’t have any way to evaluate what Ole Miss looks like, plays like, without their head coach.”
The committee had also evaluated staff changes at other programs, including Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein’s upcoming move to Kentucky, and head coaching shifts at North Texas and Tulane.
Ole Miss not only CFP candidate with coaching change
However, Yurachek emphasized that these situations did not meaningfully alter the rankings because the committee hasn't yet seen how those teams perform without the departing coaches. Explaining that reasoning, Yurachek said the staff changes were acknowledged broadly across several programs.
“We absolutely did talk about that,” Yurachek said (h/t On3). “One of the principles in our selection protocols is the availability of coach and players. We not only talked about the situation at Ole Miss…While I think those coaches are going to be coaching their respective teams, there’s obviously a distraction. But what the committee, in the end, after discussing, it felt we don’t have any games where Ole Miss does not have their head coach.”
After Kiffin's departure, Ole Miss elevated defensive coordinator Pete Golding to interim head coach, while offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. confirmed he will remain through the CFP despite following Kiffin to LSU afterward.
Despite missing the SEC Championship Game, Ole Miss may benefit from entering the postseason with fewer physical and emotional hurdles than the teams competing on title weekend.
