Conventional wisdom suggests it’s best to let bygones be bygones. However, nothing about the 2024 CFB resonated with the convention. At the risk of reopening old wounds, cast your minds back to Selection Sunday. One look at discourse on new and traditional media alike would’ve had you thinking the revamped playoff fields about 24 teams, not 12. Every fanbase believed their school was getting in, or atleast was making the case for it. Lane Kiffin himself was dropping proverbial bombs on X. The separate factions were even divided over what weapons they were deploying. Strength of schedule, quality wins, quality losses, and whatnot. Even prestige and stature became arguments. All of this and more is baked into the latest iteration of the ESPN Power Index, which is as polarizing as ever.

Hindsight is 20/20. For a sport that’s based as much on hypotheticals as actual games, that’s even more resoundingly true. Nobody knows how the CFP would’ve transpired if the teams that were left on the periphery were included instead. Ole Miss was one team that had a lot of traction. Even those of a neutral persuasion, most notably Josh Pate, suggested Lane Kiffin and co. were good enough to receive a berth. Alas, the powers that be didn’t concur. According to this rich tapestry that is the ESPN PI, the committee left out 4 teams that, it discerns, were top 12 in the country. 

First up, the aforementioned Ole Miss. Year after year, their perilous traversal under Lane Kiffin has become a bit of a modern tradition. In the negative sense. They’ll blow out a relatively weaker program at the onset of a season. Then go on a run, creating excitement among the fans. Stutter against a good team. Then, pick it up again and perhaps upset a Blueblood. All this before falling short towards the end is anticlimactic. It is a cyclic process that is repeated once again. Much to the dismay of their fans. 

All the Rebels needed to do was win out against Florida and Mississippi State. Alas, they fell on the first hurdle against a resurgent Gators side. The Power Index has Lane Kiffin and Co. at #5. Yet, they’re not even the highest-ranked team in the actual playoffs. Ole Miss’ case is a little more legitimate, though, compared to who’s at #4.

Alabama did appear to have swindled their way through the cracks at one stage, courtesy of Miami falling off down the stretch. They were the first team on the bubble right at the end. However, Clemson’s manner of victory, a walk-off FG, in the ACC Championship meant the gap ceased. Kalen DeBoer was essentially drawing dead after that. Don’t think too many Bana fans will throw their arms up, though, after what transpired in the ReliaQuest bowl. It would seem the committee managed to get that one right. The 3rd and 4th teams in question can’t exactly feel hard done, either.

Lane Kiffin and the Rebels have the most watertight case of being snubbed

At #11, come in the Miami Hurricanes. If football was only about offense, they’d probably be Natty contenders. Unfortunately, the other side is just as vital in comprising a sustainable run. Miami kept getting away with last-gasp comebacks in the 4th quarter by virtue of their stud under center, Cam Ward. Eventually, the heroism dried up, and realism kicked in. They lost 2 of 3 to end the regular season. Then lost the Pop-Tarts bowl for good measure. The 9-0 start covered their weakness under a layer of sheen.

The final team, #12, is a bit of a wildcard. The Louisville Cardinals weren’t even part of the conversation at all by the time the final 12 were officialized. Yet, ESPN and the numbers seem to suggest this may have been an oversight. Louisville and Miami make a mini-hierarchy of 4 ACC teams that conclude the top 15. Out of everyone that didn’t get in, Kiffin and Ole Miss seem to have the best medley of reasons. Perhaps this was the year they deserved to break the cycle and get over the hump.

The people who lobbied for an expanded playoff have largely been vindicated. The two teams that are in the National Championship may have been out of the reckoning entirely in previous years. The playoff field will never be fully agreed upon. Such is the nature of the selection process. Expect perpetual contention and discrepancy in the form of constructions such as this Power Index. Lane Kiffin will always revel in the nuance of it all going by his X timeline, and so will most fanbases.