Lane Kiffin's flirtation with LSU sent shockwaves through college football, raising a crucial question: How would his potential exit impact Ole Miss's playoff aspirations? The answer, according to the College Football Playoff (CFP) committee, might surprise you. Ole Miss actually climbed to No. 6 in the penultimate rankings! But here's where it gets controversial...
Hunter Yurachek, the CFP committee chair, addressed reporters following the rankings reveal, confirming that the Kiffin situation was indeed a hot topic in the room. He drew parallels to Oregon's situation, where offensive coordinator Will Stein was preparing to depart for Kentucky. Yurachek noted that similar discussions arose regarding North Texas, Tulane, and James Madison, all of whom were facing coaching changes. Importantly, coaches like Stein, Eric Morris of North Texas, and Jon Sumrall of Tulane are expected to remain with their teams through their respective bowl games, offering some stability.
However, Yurachek emphasized that Kiffin's potential departure didn't negatively affect Ole Miss's ranking. The reasoning? The committee hadn't seen Ole Miss play without Kiffin actually on the sideline. As a result, it didn't significantly influence their deliberations. "We absolutely did talk about that," Yurachek affirmed. "One of the principles in our selection protocols is the availability of coach and players... 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... That really didn’t weigh into our consideration this week and how we ranked the teams."
To understand this further, let's dive deeper into the CFP selection principles. The official website states that "Other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance" are considered. On3's Chris Low had previously explored how Kiffin's departure could impact Ole Miss's CFP standing, suggesting that uncertainty at the coaching position could be a detriment. And this is the part most people miss...
Yurachek then referenced the Florida State Seminoles' situation in 2023. FSU, despite an undefeated record, were controversially left out of the four-team playoff after their starting quarterback, Jordan Travis, suffered a season-ending injury. The key difference, according to Yurachek, was that the committee had evidence of how Florida State performed without Travis. They had games to evaluate where FSU was missing its star quarterback.
"I wasn’t a member of the committee a couple years ago, 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... We don’t have any way to evaluate what Ole Miss looks like, plays like, without their head coach," Yurachek explained. "It looks like they stabilized that program by appointing their defensive coordinator as their head coach. Their offensive coordinator, we were told, was going to come back and call the plays. We can only evaluate what we know, and what we know is that Ole Miss is an 11-1 football team." In essence, the committee chose to focus on what they could see – Ole Miss's impressive record with Kiffin at the helm – rather than speculate about a hypothetical future without him.
This raises some interesting questions. Do you agree with the committee's decision to prioritize tangible evidence over potential disruptions? Was it fair to penalize Florida State for an injury to a key player, while giving Ole Miss the benefit of the doubt? Some might argue that the committee should be more proactive in considering potential future impacts, while others believe in sticking to what they can verifiably observe. What's your take? Let us know in the comments below!
